For the second night in a row, a Wichita State basketball team moved out of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) basement — and snapped a long losing streak.
A day after Wichita State’s men earned a road win, the women’s team beat Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at home, 54-44.
“We’ve been through a turbulent time,” WSU head coach Terry Nooner said. “We talked about in our program … you go through adversity, you go through tough times in life … And I thought we had a good week this week. It’s just a testament to the resilience of the team and the fact that they stuck together. It was a total team effort.”
The Shockers and Owls now share a 2-9 record at the bottom of the conference standings. The win was WSU’s third consecutive against FAU and snapped a seven-game losing streak, the longest losing-streak in Nooner’s two-year tenure.
Nooner said the players on the team aren’t used to losing. The win against FAU was the team bearing the fruits of their labor throughout the losing streak.
“Losing is not part of my DNA, and losing this many games,” Nooner said. “So you try to figure it out. We’ve tried a bunch of different things just to continue to encourage and continue to help the young ladies, because we know it’s hard and it’s tough.”
Both teams played a relatively slow pace of play, often running down the shot clock. Only eight fast break points were scored all game.
The Owls went cold in the second half, scoring just 14 points on 19% shooting from the field. For the game, FAU shot 27%, both its second-lowest mark this year and the second-worst by a WSU opponent. The Owls also shot 3-12 from the free-throw line.
The Shockers won the game despite shooting a miserable 1-18 from distance, their least amount of made threes of the season and most misses.
Nooner said he appreciates being able to win a defensive, gritty game like this one.
“We’ve had a good stretch of some pretty good defense,” he said. “And so for us to be able to get a win is kind of like a reward for all the things we’ve been working on. I think it’s huge for our confidence.”
FAU junior guard Mya Perry, who averages 15.4 points per game, put up 22 against the Shockers, half of the team’s total points.
Junior forward Jayla Murray matched Perry’s contributions on WSU’s end, scoring 18 points on 16 shots, making half of her attempts.
“I always have faith in us,” Murray said. “So I feel like us getting this win is just the thing we needed to keep going and to keep pushing and be there for each other.”
The Shockers took an early 9-3 lead off a 7-0 run in the first quarter, but immediately transitioned into a nearly four-minute period where they scored two points and gave the ball away five times.
The Owls retook the advantage in the second quarter. Perry knocked down a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Owls a 23-17 lead, immediately jawing at the WSU bench.
On the way back up the floor, both Perry and Wichita State freshman guard KP Parr were given technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct — although Parr claimed on the sideline that she didn’t say anything.
The first half was as sloppy as you’d expect from the two teams at the bottom of the AAC standings. The teams combined for 21 turnovers, shooting a collective 4-9 from the free-throw line. Wichita State went 0-7 from 3-point range as the Owls went into the break with a slim lead, 30-29.
The Shockers retook the advantage in the third quarter as FAU went on a seven-minute scoring drought. However, WSU also went more than four minutes without scoring. Then, near the end of the quarter, the Shockers exploded for a 10-0 run to take a 45-34 lead into the final period.
Nooner said that in the second half, the Shockers shored up their transition defense and limited the Owls’ second-chance points as they held FAU to zero points off of offensive rebounds in the half.
Parr also put significant pressure on FAU’s guards, which led to turnovers and sloppy play. It’s something she prides herself on.
“The defense creates our offense,” Parr said. “And you see, like, when we pick it up on the defensive side, our offense comes pretty easily.”
Both teams went cold in the fourth quarter as well, combining for five points in the first four minutes.
The Shockers scored just nine points in the fourth quarter, but managed to hold onto the lead with strong defense and a slow pace of play aided by six offensive boards in the quarter.
Senior forward Ornella Niankan put the exclamation point on the win by subbing into the game and immediately swatting an FAU shot with 90 seconds left.
The normally-reliable offensive contributors — graduate student guard Taylor Jameson, sophomore guard Salese Blow and junior guard Princess Anderson — combined to go 4-23 from the floor.
Junior forward Bre’Yon White picked up some offensive slack, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Multiple Shocker assistants were wearing “Bre Mode” hoodies on the WSU bench, a brand White created with her family.
“She’s reserved and, when she’s regular, like, you know, very humble and soft spoken, funny,” Nooner said. “And ‘Bre Mode’ is like a different person that’s stronger and just a different mode.”
Wichita State will take on a much tougher challenge on Saturday, Feb. 8, when it plays conference-leaders the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“It’s going to be tough,” Nooner said. “It’s going to be physical. So we’re going to have to bring our hard hats. But I feel like when we play our A-game, we can match up against anybody.”
Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.
