The RoundHouse | 12/7/2019 5:33:00 PM
Dominique Mitchell never let
Mariah McCully win when they played one-on-one at the YMCA, pushed her to study and told her to live her life her way.
"He wouldn't let me score," McCully said. "He didn't let up. He knew I had potential."
As an uncle, Mitchell also served as McCully's friend, role model and constant companion. When he died at 18 in a car accident in 2009, his principal described as a "shining star" for his academic excellence and leadership in Grand Rapids, Mich.
"He was like a brother, we were so close in age," McCully said. "He kept me from wrongs. He would be like 'This is what you shouldn't do.' I was able to tell him things I wasn't comfortable telling my parents."
McCully wears No. 2 to honor Mitchell, who wore that number in high school. Mitchell attended Eastern Michigan University, which gave Saturday's game a special significance for McCully.
"This was coming from the heart for me," she said.
Mitchell was certainly right about his niece's basketball potential.
McCully scored a season-high 25 points in Wichita State's 63-52 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday at Koch Arena. She made 3 of 7 three-pointers and also recorded three assists and three steals. She scored 17 in the second half to help the Shockers (5-3) pull away after trailing by one at halftime.
The 25-point outburst is the most by a Shocker since the 2017-2018 season, when Rangie Bessard scored 25 against Tulane.
McCully scored in a variety of ways – jump shots, drives, bank shots – which is exactly what coach
Keitha Adams expected when she recruited the junior guard. Her performance helped the Shockers survive the absence of starting guard
Carla Bremaud, who sat out with a sprained ankle.
"She was very aggressive taking the ball to the basket," Adams said. "They played us zone and we handled and we got the win without one of our top shooters. We had to step up. Mariah did that."
Saturday's game showed again the McCully was worth the wait after a season at Odessa (Texas) College and one at Wabash Valley (Ill.) College, in which she earned NJCAA All-American honors in 2017-18. She didn't play basketball last season while rehabbing a hip injury. She kept working with this season at Wichita State on her mind.
"It was very hard, going from playing basketball every day every year to your first injury," she said. "You're stuck. It really tested my mental toughness. I really think that it helped in the long run. Now, when things get down, I seem to uplift instead of getting down."
McCully leaned on her family during her rehab in Grand Rapids. Her dad worked her out at the YMCA and Seidman Boys & Girls Club, where Alonzo McCully coaches.
"As soon as I got cleared, I started training," she said. "I started dragging my dad into the gym. It's a family thing. When my mom (Bernita) goes up to work out, she'll make us play basketball. They knew it was a mental toughness thing for me, so they kept me motivated."
On Saturday, the Shockers solved their turnover problems and Eastern Michigan's zone defense during the third quarter. They outscored the Eagles (2-6) 21-12 in that quarter and it wasn't all McCully.
Guard
Seraphine Bastin, who scored 12 points, grabbed one of her team-high rebounds and scored for a 33-27 lead. Forward
Shyia Smith made all six of her foul shots in the third. Guard
DJ McCarty found McCully on a fast break for a basket and McCarty's steal led to another basket for McCully.
Center
Asia Henderson came off the bench to make 4 of 5 shots and score eight points, six in the fourth quarter. She also recorded six rebounds.
"Our guards were taking it to the basket and getting the ball in the paint," Adams said. "We were being aggressive in our transition game and that gave us some high-percentage opportunities."
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
