It was a tale of two halves offensively for Wichita State women’s basketball against Missouri State University (MSU).
The Shockers came alive in the second half on Wednesday night, but a 13-point halftime deficit after scoring nine total points in the second quarter was too much to overcome. Wichita State lost, 82-77, in Charles Koch Arena.
“I think this was a total of three, what we felt like is our normal game quarters, and then our second quarter really just doomed us in all aspects of the game,” Wichita State head coach Terry Nooner said.
The Shockers dropped their second straight game and are 1-2 on the season. Missouri State sits at 2-0 with a pair of wins against American Athletic Conference opponents. The Lady Bears beat Tulsa University earlier this year.
Wichita State shot 42% from the field and 14% from 3-point range in the first half but boosted those numbers to 53% and 54% in the second half.
Wichita State took a 14-7 lead on an 8-0 run in the first quarter. The Shockers held the Lady Bears to 27% shooting from the field over the first seven minutes of the game through a stifling defense that prevented easy shots.
Wichita State led, 25-24, with 6:17 left in the first half. The Shockers proceeded to miss their next nine shots from the field as Missouri State went on a 15-0 run. Junior forward Bre’Yon White made a buzzer-beating second-chance layup to close the half, salvaging some momentum going into the break.
“We couldn’t get a shot to go down,” said Nooner about the second period. “And I think we let that kind of affect our defense, it affected our offense, it affected our rebounding.”
The Shockers came into the second half with a smaller lineup on the court. The three tallest players on the roster — senior centers Ella Anciaux and Aicha Ndour and junior forward Maimouna Sissoko — played 19 combined minutes in the first half and none in the second.
Instead, White, junior forward Jayla Murray and senior forward Ornella Niankan split time at center, a position none of them practice frequently.
“We decided to go with the group of kids that we felt that was playing the hardest, that played with the most passion,” Nooner said. “We didn’t really care about how big the group was.”
The home team’s fans and shooting stroke came alive in the third quarter. The Shockers attempted five 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the half, knocking down three of them. After consecutive treys from sophomore guard Salese Blow, Wichita State cut the deficit to 47-43.
Those 3-pointers were key in breaking down a Missouri State zone defense that flummoxed the Shockers in the first half.
“Once you can make some of the threes, I think it kind of softens up the defense and kind of gives us more driving opportunities,” Nooner said.
MSU led, 64-59, halfway into the fourth quarter. Murray sparked a momentum shift with a block that turned into a Blow transition 3-pointer at the other end. Two possessions later, graduate student guard Taylor Jameson tied the game with a layup off a Lady Bears turnover.
The teams remained deadlocked for a few possessions. Missouri State took a 5-point lead, 78-73, off a wide open 3-pointer due to a Wichita State defensive lapse.
Nooner, visibly frustrated on the sideline, took a timeout with 1:56 left. He attributed MSU’s open shots late in the game to missed defensive rotations due to Wichita State players being in unfamiliar situations.
Up 4 points with under a minute left, MSU broke through the Shocker press defense with an outlet pass. Murray smacked a Lady Bears player to the ground while attempting to block the fast-break layup, leading to calls for a technical foul from the Missouri State fans.
The road team’s wish was granted, giving the Lady Bears two free throws and an extra possession of the ball that they turned into a 7-point lead.
Missouri State missed four consecutive free throws down the stretch, but Wichita State still couldn’t catch up.
Jameson and Blow led the second half charge, combining for seven 3-pointers after not making any in the first half. Freshman KP Parr scored 13 points, pulled down six rebounds despite being the team’s smallest player and led the Shockers in plus/minus at +12.
White pulled down nine rebounds, including four offensive boards in the second half.
While talking with fans after the game, Murray went down with a cramp and had to be carried off the court by trainers. Nooner said he could see some players were fatigued in the fourth quarter, but left them in because he was impressed with their fight and effort.
“I’m just pleased with our fight,” Nooner said. “We could have packed it in, and we didn’t. We had timeouts, and we just kind of challenged them to keep taking that (one) possession at a time, keep chipping away.”
The Shockers will attempt to snap the two-game losing streak on Saturday, Nov. 16, when they take on the University of St. Thomas in Charles Koch Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
