The RoundHouse | 11/25/2019 9:42:00 PM
Wichita State will do a lot of preparation for Saturday's game against Oklahoma. For one practice, at least, that preparation will not include sprints.
Shyia Smith took care of that with a career-high 17 rebounds in Monday's 59-42 win over Houston Baptist at Koch Arena. The Shockers (3-2) out-rebounded Houston Baptist 50-37, which spares them the sprints penalty.
"I just didn't my team to run for losing the boards," she said. "I took one for the team."
Smith, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, also scored 10 points. Her rebound numbers will keep her in the starting lineup against Oklahoma – eight rebounds or more earns a starting spot. Smith grabbed eight or more for the third consecutive game.
"She's a natural athlete," Wichita State coach
Keitha Adams said. "She makes it look pretty smooth. I'm really, really proud of Shyia having 17 rebounds. That's really going to work."
Wichita State won its third straight game by jumping to a 35-15 halftime lead and letting its defense and ability to draw fouls do the rest. Wichita State forced 23 turnovers and held Houston Baptist to 14 baskets (25.9 percent shooting). The Shockers shot twice as many foul shots (32) as the Huskies (3-3) and outscored them by nine points at the line.
Freshman guard
DJ McCarty scored 12 points and handed out three assists. Guard
Carla Bremaud added eight points and five steals.
"We played well the first half, other than our free throw shooting and some missed layups," Adams said. "Second half, the game got kind of ugly. It was just kind of a painful one."
The Shockers have three days of practice to prepare for the Sooners. Working on foul shots (the Shockers missed 14) and limiting turnovers (19) are on the list.
"We're going to have to play better on Saturday," Adams said. "We've got to find a way to get our turnovers down. I continue to shoot for having 12 a game. I'd like to cut that down a little bit. We've been making 50 free throws a day. We've got to get back to doing that. We left too many free throws at the line."
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
