WICHITA – Another offensive slump slowed the Shockers in their second home loss of the season, falling 49-44 to Houston Christian Monday evening in Charles Koch Arena.
 
"Tonight, for whatever reason, we just didn't have it overall offensively," head coach Terry Nooner said. "It was a struggle for us tonight."
 
Wichita State (4-5) shot just 17-for-61 (.279), their second-worst field goal percentage of the year but held Houston Christian (4-5) to only 21-for-53 (.396) from the field.
 
"The last time we had a tough matchup was Southeastern Louisiana, and when we didn't have our shots falling, we let our defense falter too, but tonight we had them under 40%, which is a goal of ours," Nooner said. "We just couldn't get it going offensively."
 
The Shockers out-rebounded the Huskies 52-31, the first time this season they've lost a game where they've won the rebound battle.
 
Wichita State opened the game with three turnovers and shot 0-for-9 in the first seven minutes as neither team could get it going on offense in the first quarter. Daniela Abies scored the Shockers' first points of the game with three minutes left in the quarter, and the Shockers finished the first quarter down 10-7, tying their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season.
 
Houston Christian played their starters the entire first half with three starters playing the full 40 minutes. N'Denasija Collins led the game in scoring with 13 points with seven coming in the second quarter when she shot 3-for-3 and hit a triple.
 
DJ McCarty returned to the court after resting the last game and scored a team-high 11 points off the bench, including four in the second quarter to help the Shockers tie it up before halftime.
 
The Huskies went on a 9-1 run in the third quarter to take their biggest lead of the game at 37-27, but Aniya Bell sparked some momentum for the Shockers with a steal and a dish to Salese Blow and came back on the next possession to hit a three and make it a three-point game to end the quarter.
 
Wichita State took its only lead of the game with 6:11 to play but the Huskies quickly got back on top and went up six. Abies hit a free throw and second-chance layup to make it a one-possession game.
 
The Shockers had three opportunities to tie it up in the final three minutes but couldn't execute down the stretch, turning the ball over three times as the Huskies held off the comeback effort.
 
Wichita State concludes its four-game home stretch against in-state rival Kansas Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.