Pop, pop, pop — the sound of stolen balls and blocked shots bounced around Charles Koch Arena as the Wichita State women’s basketball team lost their lone regular season matchup against the East Carolina Pirates, 72-51, on Sunday, Feb. 4.
The Shockers are now 6-17 on the season and 2-9 in the American Athletic Conference. East Carolina is 6-4 in AAC play.
East Carolina came out of the gate fiery-hot on the defensive end, blocking six of the Shockers’ shots and forcing seven turnovers in the first quarter alone. Junior Tatyana Wyche led ECU in blocks with four.
Wichita State head coach Terry Nooner said that even though East Carolina played tough defense, the Shockers still wanted to play their brand of basketball.
“We talked to the ladies about trying to use shot fakes, and even though people blocked shots and they’re physical, we still want to try to play inside-out,” Nooner said.
The Pirates kept their foot on the gas throughout the game, only letting the Shockers lead for 23 seconds in the early goings of the contest.
“Give (East Carolina) all the credit in the world,” Nooner said. “They’re long, they’re athletic, they’re tough, they’re battle-tested. They were picked to win the league for a reason.”
The Pirates were able to stop sophomore forward Daniela Abies from scoring down low, only allowing her to score six points on the night.
Tre’Zure Jobe, a redshirt senior guard, and Jayla Murray, a redshirt sophomore forward were the only two Wichita State players who shot above 50% from the field. Jobe was just behind freshman Salese Blow for leading scorer of the night, who scored 13.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball like we needed to shoot it, so we need to do better in that area,” Nooner said.
The Shockers will head to Florida for a doubleheader on the road: a rematch against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Feb. 10 and a matchup against one of the conference’s top teams, South Florida, on Feb. 13.
