FORT WORTH, Texas – Wichita State sophomore forward Daniela Abies led Wichita State past Florida Atlantic in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon in Dickies Arena. The Shockers won 64-50 behind 22 points and a tournament record 22 rebounds from Abies.
 
"I'm just so proud of my team," head coach Terry Nooner said. "We worked so hard. We've been so close in so many games throughout the season, and we've been wanting to just figure out how we can crack that ceiling and get wins, so I'm just happy for the players. They work so hard every single day."
 
Abies, a Malaga, Spain native, recorded a career-high 22 rebounds with nine of them on the offensive end, breaking the AAC tournament single-game record for total rebounds and tying the record for offensive rebounds.
 
"It's something I threw at her as jokes a few times, telling her that I need 20 points and 20 rebounds," Nooner said. "I'm just so happy for her and the performance that she had, and it's a testament to her hard work."
 
Abies is the first Shocker since Antoinette Wells in 2006 to grab 20-plus rebounds in a game and ties for No. 6 all-time in Wichita State history in single-game rebounds. She also moves up to No. 7 in Shocker history for total rebounds in a season with 289.
 
"It was just one of the goals that [Coach Nooner] was telling me from the beginning of the season, to get 20/20, so for me having that today was really important because I was really helping the team," Abies said.
 
Wichita State out-rebounded FAU 48-43, tying for the most offensive rebounds in an AAC Championship game in program history with 17.
 
Two Shockers joined Abies in double figures with Jayla Murray and Salese Blow scoring 12 and 11, respectively, and Raissa Nsabua dished out a career-high five assists.
 
Wichita State shot just 4-for-19 (.211) from three but scored 34 points in the paint while holding FAU to 18-for-59 (.305) from the field.
 
The Shockers finished the game on a 12-0 run over the final two and a half minutes and held the Owls to just nine fourth quarter points.
 
After going up seven early in the second quarter, the Shockers went cold, ending the quarter 4-for-15 (.267), only making two field goals in the last 8:03 of the half to give the Owls a one-point advantage.
 
Abies was held to just five first-half points but grabbed 12 rebounds before halftime but came out in the second half and scored the first points of the half.
 
In a game that saw 13 lead changes and nine ties, the Shockers went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter to regain the lead for the final time. Blow hit a three in the last 10 seconds of the quarter, giving Wichita State a four-point lead.
 
Abies scored 12 of the Shockers' 19 fourth-quarter points, leading them to a 12-0 run to end the game.
 
Wichita State has now won four of its last five conference tournament openers and will take on No. 5-seed South Florida in the second round on Sunday at 2 p.m.