‘We needed this one’: Wichita State women’s basketball scores AAC win at Cincinnati
After the nightmares from last season being interrupted so much, there were some bad memories brought back the past week when the Wichita State women’s basketball team went on a COVID-19 pause.
The Shockers returned to the court on Thursday night from their eight-day lay-off and picked up their first American Athletic Conference game on the road with a 76-66 win at Cincinnati.
Wichita State improved to 10-5 overall and leveled its AAC record to 1-1, while Cincinnati fell to 7-8 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
“We needed this one,” WSU coach Keitha Adams said in a phone interview. “I think we all had a bad taste in our mouths. We lost a few then we had the disruption where we were shut down for a couple of days. It felt great all of us being back together again. And it was great seeing us close out and finish strong in the fourth quarter, which is something we’ve really been focusing on.”
In the last three losses, WSU has been overwhelmed in the fourth quarter. And there were concerns it was happening again when the Shockers allowed Cincinnati to dwindle a nine-point deficit down to 63-61 with 2:59 remaining.
But this time, WSU proved to have an answer back.
D.J. McCarty drilled a three-pointer — WSU’s only of the game in a 1-for-16 performance beyond the arc — to restore a two-possession lead, then immediately scored again in transition to push WSU’s lead back to 68-61 with 2:16 left. When Cincinnati hit a three-pointer to hang around, WSU clamped down and forced two straight turnovers that turned into buckets — a Jane Asinde layup and another McCarty finish — to push the lead to 72-64 and all but seal the victory.
“That three by D.J. was a big one,” Adams said. “And then she had a major take to the basket right after that. She had some big baskets for us down the stretch.”
The Shockers prevailed in a battle of cold-shooting performances, as the two teams combined to shoot 37% from the field. WSU was able to make up for its poor shooting by grabbing 20 offensive rebounds (for a 50-39 rebounding advantage) and scoring 14 second-chance points, while also out-scoring Cincinnati 21-10 at the free throw line.
Asinde led four Shockers in double-digits with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and four steals, while point guard Seraphine Bastin added 14 points (10 at the foul line), seven rebounds (five offensive) and three assists, McCarty scored 13 points off the bench and Asia Strong finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Trajata Colbert also chipped in a team-high 11 rebounds and seven points off the bench, while Jillian Hayes led Cincinnati with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
“The number one thing about this game for us winning was us dominating the boards,” Adams said. “We knew that team their strength on offense was their second and third efforts getting offensive rebounds. We really felt like for us to win this game, we really had to hit the rebounds hard. And we did that.”
WSU has a great chance to win two conference games on a row when it returns home to host Memphis (9-4, 0-2 AAC) in a 3 p.m. game Sunday following the men’s basketball team’s noon tip-off against Cincinnati at Koch Arena. The women’s game will be streamed on ESPN+.
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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