WICHITA, Kan. – After out-shooting the Jackrabbits in the first half, the Wichita State women's basketball team fell to South Dakota State by a score of 78-58 Wednesday night in Charles Koch Arena.
The Shockers shot 52 percent from the field, while the Jackrabbits shot 51 percent. SDSU was able to collect 22 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds, proving to be the difference in the game.
Rangie Bessard led the Shockers, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing three rebounds.
TaQuandra Mike and
Angiee Tompkins also contributed with 16 points and 13 points respectively.
The Jackrabbits had two players score at least 20 points, with Madison Guebert scoring 20 and Ellie Thompson scoring 23.
After falling behind 6-2 early in the first quarter, the Shockers went on a 6-0 run to take the lead, 8-6. Wichita State took a 16-13 lead with less than a minute left, but a bucket by the Jackrabbits cut the Shocker lead to one, 16-15, before the end of the first quarter.
To begin the second quarter, both teams traded points until a three-pointer gave the Jackrabbits their largest lead of the game, 27-22, before the media timeout. The Shockers made five of their last seven shots of the half to cut the South Dakota State lead to 37-32 going into the locker room.
Early in the third quarter, SDSU went on a 9-0 run to take a 46-34 lead before the Shockers called their first timeout of second half. Coming out of the timeout, South Dakota State went on another 9-0 run to extend their lead to 19, 55-36. A layup just before the buzzer for the Jackrabbits put the lead at 16 heading into the fourth quarter.
Another big run to start the fourth quarter gave SDSU a 22 point lead before a layup by
Aundra Stovall ended the run and cut the lead to 20. The Shocker defense then stepped up the energy, holding the Jackrabbits scoreless for three minutes. The Wichita State defense continued its strong performance allowing just one point in the final three minutes of the game, but the Shockers struggled offensively and fell to the Jackrabbits, 78-58.
The Shockers are next in action on Dec. 30, as they take on Drake for the first Missouri Valley Conference game of the year at 7 p.m., in Charles Koch Arena.
