In the first half on Wednesday night, Wichita State women’s basketball looked like it had a shot of pulling off a road upset against Temple University. Then, the third quarter happened.
Temple scored 31 points in the third period en route to a 71-50 win.
“We just didn’t take care of the ball like we needed to in the second half, especially in the third quarter,” WSU head coach Terry Nooner said on the postgame radio show.
The Owls improved to 10-5 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), while Wichita State sits near the conference cellar at 3-12. The Shockers have lost each of their last six road games.
The Shockers struggled to shoot the ball, a characteristic of the team this year. They shot 24% from 3-point range, 36% from the floor and a season-low 40% from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Temple knocked down 9-19 from deep. Seven of its makes came from fifth-year guard Tarriyonna Gary, who scored 25 points, 21 of which came from 3-point range.
Junior guard Princess Anderson earned her second consecutive start, delivering 20 points — one off her season-high — without turning the ball over once.
“That’s what she (Anderson) does,” Nooner said. “She’s a natural scorer, so she really kept us in the game and helped us have the lead at halftime.”
The Owls looked to take control of the game early, going on a 7-0 run to close the first quarter with the lead, 18-10. However, the Shockers fought back over the course of the second period. With 10 seconds left, the Shockers took the lead, 28-25, with an Anderson 3-pointer.
Wichita State stayed competitive for the first four minutes of the second half. Then, the Owls upped the pressure on WSU’s ball-handlers, and the Shockers fell apart. Temple went on a 19-0 run to take a 54-33 lead and complete control of the game.
During that stretch, WSU committed six turnovers and only attempted three shots. As a whole, the Shockers committed six turnovers in the first half and eight in the third quarter alone.
Nooner said Wichita State failed to run their press break offense.
“A couple times, they got in the press and we just didn’t recognize it,” Nooner said. “We got a 10-second call one time. We just didn’t take care of the ball, we (weren’t) strong with the ball when we (were) trying to make passes to beat the press.”
In the fourth quarter, the Shockers went on another long scoring drought, not making a point for nearly three minutes of game time. While Wichita State scored more points than Temple in the quarter, WSU never threatened to win the game.
Sophomore guard Salese Blow contributed 14 points and led the team in minutes. Blow’s -4 plus/minus was second-best on the team.
Junior forward Jayla Murray had a game to forget. She battled foul trouble all game and scored just nine points, most of which came in garbage time. Additionally, Murray committed a season-high five turnovers.
Wichita State will look to earn an elusive road win on Saturday, Feb. 22, against Tulane University. The tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
