WICHITA – No. 11 seed Wichita State's best start of the season and a career night from
Salese Blow wasn't enough to rise above the No. 6 seed Green Wave as the Shockers' season ends with a 69-63 loss in the second round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
"I've always been a competitor, so it definitely stings, especially going out this round," Blow said. "I'm proud of the fight we had, but it stings."
Blow tied Rangie Bessard's all-time record (MVC 2017) for most Shocker points in a conference tournament game with a career-high 30 points, breaking the Shockers' all-time record for single-game points in an AAC tournament game.
"Just a great performance," Nooner said. "She was locked in, and you could see her focus the last few days. You could tell she was ready to go from the start. This is what you get from her. She's a natural scorer, and she puts in the work every single day."
The sophomore ties for 21
st all-time in Wichita State history for single-game points, shooting 11-for-22 from the field, hitting two threes and 6-of-7 free throws.
Princess Anderson and
Jayla Murray also finished in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively, and
Ella Anciaux led the team in rebounding with six and blocks with three.
"Ella is a kid who, as a senior, left it all on the floor, whether she was changing shots, blocking shots or getting offensive rebounds," Nooner said. "I'm happy she was able to give her best effort in her last game. [
Ornella Niankan] too, I thought she brought energy and effort on defense and flew around, so I was happy for those two, especially."
Victoria Keenan led the Green Wave with 26 points to send Tulane to the quarter finals.
Wichita State jumped out to a six-point lead in the first quarter, shooting 62.9 percent from the field with 11 points apiece from Anderson and Blow. The Shockers scored their most first-quarter points of the season, leading 25-19 at the end of the period.
The Shockers cooled off a bit in the second quarter, missing eight-straight shots while the Green Wave went on a 6-0 run to tie it up at 29-all. Wichita State shot just 25 percent in the quarter but held on to a one-point lead going into halftime, just their sixth time leading at half during the conference season.
Tulane's Victoria Keenan hit a three to start a 12-0 Green Wave run to open the half, taking ga 45-34 lead. Blow snapped the Shockers' scoring drought, hitting a pair of free throws four and a half minutes into the third quarter. The Shockers were down by as many as 14 before a 6-0 Wichita State run brought them back within six.
It was a battle in the fourth as Wichita State tried to close in on the Green Wave, but Tulane held off the Shockers, despite a 12-point effort from Blow in the period. Wichita State held Tulane to 2-for-14 from the floor in the fourth but came up short on the offensive end.
"This is a special group of young ladies that are seniors that we will truly miss," Nooner said. "I'm happy for them to see the development that they experienced as players, and to be able to play the amount of minutes and the type of minutes that they played for us today was huge."
Wichita State ends the season 10-22.
