HOUSTON – Houston's pressure defense forced 25 Wichita State turnovers to help the Cougars pick up a 73-55 win Tuesday night in H&PE Arena.

Wichita State (5-11, 0-2) held the advantage in field goal percentage, rebounds (43-30) and points in the paint (46-22), but turnovers and three-point shooting were the difference.

The Shockers shot 45 percent from the floor compared to Houston's 43 percent. For the third time this season, Wichita State was held without a three-point field goal (0-11) and fifth straight game with two or fewer. On the other side, UH knocked down 11-of-23 attempts from behind the line.

Houston (13-3, 2-0) came into the game as one of the country's top teams in forcing turnovers and steals. Fifteen of Wichita State's 25 turnovers were steals in the game.

Rangie Bessard led the Shockers with her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She now has seven games of 20 or more points this season and 20 in her career. Bessard finished 10-of-18 from the floor, but also had eight turnovers.

Jasmyne Harris led all scorers with 26 points, while Dorian Branch and Octavia Barnes added 16 and 10 points, respectively.

1st Quarter
Wichita State started the game just 1-of-9 from the field, as Houston built an early 10-2 lead with just under five minutes left in the opening frame.

Baskets from Bessard and Jeliah Preston after a Keitha Adams timeout made it 10-6, but the Cougars responded with a 10-2 run to close the quarter. Wichita State hit only 4-of-16 (25 percent) attempts to help UH take a 20-8 lead into the second.

Jasmyne Harris led all players with nine first quarter points and helped the Cougars force six turnovers.

2nd Quarter
The Shockers scored more points in the opening three minutes of the second than the entire first quarter to close the gap to 30-20 with 4:30 to go until halftime. Bessard had six points, all coming near the hoop after breaking the Houston full court press. Bessard entered double-figures for the 15th time in 16 games with 6:22 remaining.

A scoreless drought of three minutes for Houston allowed the Shockers to trim the lead to five, 31-26. WSU outscored UH in the second 10 minutes, 20-16, to go into the locker room trailing 36-28.

Wichita State hit 10 of its 15 field goal attempts in the quarter to raise its percentage all the way up to 45 percent at the break. Houston was right there at 41 percent, while getting a good chunk from beyond the arc (6-for-15).

WSU dominated the glass, 27-12, to help offset the 11 turnovers.

Bessard's 12 points paced the Shockers and 15 from Harris led the Cougars.

3rd Quarter
Houston bumped its lead back to double-digits, 47-35, in the opening minutes of play following Wichita State miscues on the offensive end.

The Cougars made six of their final seven shots to close the quarter on an 8-2 run and carrying a 62-45 lead into the fourth.

The Shockers made 8-of-12 field goals in the quarter, but were still outscored by UH, 26-17, due to 55.6 percent shooting from the Cougars.

4th Quarter
UH bumped its lead over 20 and led by as many as 24 in the quarter.

Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage scored all six of her points in the period.

Up Next
Wichita State concludes its brief two-game road swing in the Sunshine State on Jan. 6 vs. UCF. The Shockers and Knights tip on the American Digital Network at 1 p.m.