Women's Basketball | 11/20/2023 9:30:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State reduced the game to the 12-foot by 15-foot area in the lane and hammered away at that space.
 
The result was the best shooting game of the season, a 51-point second half and a 92-86 win over Omaha on Monday at Koch Arena. The Shockers (2-2) made 62.5 percent of their shots in the final 10 minutes to erase a six-point deficit and survive issues with defense and turnovers.
 
"It's always good, even when you don't feel like you play your best basketball, that you feel like you can pull out a win," coach Terry Nooner said. "If we've got somebody who has a hot hand, we make sure we milk it and keep getting it to them."
 
Hot hand could describe several Shockers (2-2) in the second half, one of the aspects of the performance that pleased Nooner.
 
The bigs got rolling early against the smaller Mavericks (1-4). Daniela Abies made 9 of 11 shots to finish with 18 points and Ornella Niankan made 5 of 7 shots and 6 of 7 free throws for a career-high 16.
 
"Dani did a good job in the first half of setting a tone of scoring on the inside, getting rebounds," Nooner said. "We made that a really big point of emphasis. We have a bunch of stuff we can build on."
 
When the Mavericks adjusted to defend post players, the Shocker guards took over late. Tre'Zure Jobe scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. Freshman Salese Blow scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half.
 
"They tried to stop my game, but I was trying to help my teammates," Abies said.
 
The Shockers trailed 69-63 at the end of the third quarter, a period that wrapped up with two WSU turnovers. Those ball-handling and mental errors helped keep Omaha in the lead most of the first 30 minutes. The Shockers limited their turnovers to two in the fourth period, clearing the way to outscore the Mavericks 29-17.
 
Driving and scoring in the lane also helped the Shockers draw fouls. Omaha outscored the Shockers by eight points at the line in the first half. In the second half, the Shockers made 15 foul shots to Omaha's 14.
 
Blow, whose previous high was nine points, repeatedly took handoffs from post players and used her speed to get into the lane for shots around the rim. Her three-point play tied it 71-all. Jobe followed with a three-point shot to give the Shockers a 74-73 lead and they never again trailed.
 
"Every time we ran it, I just strived to get downhill and get a bucket," Blow said. "It's my ability to get downhill and my ability to not let my defender knock me off my path."
 
Another driving score by Blow put WSU up 87-84 and she snuck out for a fast-break basket to put the Shockers up 89-84 with 1:33 to play. Jobe made three of four foul shots to hold the Mavericks, who missed six of their last seven shots and didn't make a basket in the final 3:59.
 
The Shockers won their second game with offense and Nooner said the next video session will hit on defense with an emphasis on stopping dribble drives. Omaha made 10 of 14 shots in the first half.
 
But Wichita State's ability to close it out won the day and Nooner could point to his team's resiliency instead of a tough loss.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.