Despite 21-28 shooting from the free throw line, Wichita State women’s basketball dropped its third-straight game against the University of Missouri on Tuesday evening at the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida.
The Shockers struggled to shoot from the field in the 85-57 loss. The Shockers dropped to 2-5 for the season as Missouri improved to 6-3.
The Tigers took the first two scores, but the Shockers answered back with two scores of their own to tie the game at 4. That was the closest Wichita State would ever get to taking a lead.
Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first quarter, but the Tigers played a cleaner game. The Tigers shot 65% from the field compared to the Shockers’ mediocre 40% in the first.
Riding off momentum from Monday night, junior guard Jasmine Peaks came off the bench to make her first 3-pointer of the year to make the score 16-12. It was short lived as the Tigers then took a 7-0 run.
Peaks was the only player to play at least 30 minutes as the starters were rested in the back-to-back games.
The Shockers were able to find solace at the free-throw line in the first quarter, making six from the charity stripe.
Unable to chain anything positive together, the Shockers ended their first half with a 45-32 deficit. WSU never got within 13 points for the rest of the game.
Sophomore guard Salese Blow went ice cold after an efficient 14 points against Creighton University on Monday, with a 1-13 performance from the field for the Missouri game.
Blow swapped roles with graduate student guard Taylor Jameson who tied for the team lead with nine points after being blanked against Creighton.
In the third quarter, head coach Terry Nooner’s timeout led to an 8-2 run to make it 56-43. But the promising run ended soon after as the Shockers gave up 10 straight points to end the period, 66-43.
Not even garbage time in the fourth quarter allowed any WSU player to reach double-digit scoring.
Missouri cleaned the glass during the game with 44 rebounds to Wichita State’s 30, including 16 offensive boards to the Shockers’ eight.
It showed in the shooting numbers as Wichita State shot 33% from the field compared to Missouri’s 51%. The Shockers continued shooting ice-cold from deep, knocking down just four of their 17 attempts.
The Shockers will return home to Charles Koch Arena to play Prairie View A&M University on Monday, Dec. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
