‘Huge for us’: Wichita State women’s basketball rallies for comeback road win at UAB
Winning on the road in conference play is always difficult, no matter the opponent, a fact that Wichita State women’s basketball coach Terry Nooner savored this past Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.
The Shockers climbed out of an early 12-point deficit to rally for an 82-70 victory over UAB at Bartow Arena, registering their first road win in American Athletic Conference play five weeks earlier than last season.
It was much needed after WSU (7-9, 1-2 AAC) dropped its first two conference games, as the Shockers took down a UAB (9-6, 0-3 AAC) team that was picked three spots higher in the preseason coaches’ poll.
“This is huge for us,” Nooner said in a telephone interview. “For us to be able to come back from the way we started to make adjustments, then come away with a strong second half, I think that can be huge for our confidence. We did a great job of locking in.”
WSU missed 15 of its first 19 shots, as UAB opened up a 22-10 lead near the end of the first quarter. WSU forward Jayla Murray kept her team afloat in the first half, scoring 16 of her team-high 24 points before halftime, but the Blazers still led 40-36 at the break. Murray also added a team-high nine rebounds in the game.
The second half belonged to the Shockers, however.
Star sophomore guard Salese Blow scored 19 of her 24 points in the second half, as she made 5 of 8 shots from the field and all 8 of her shots at the foul line. As a team, the Shockers made 48.4% (15 of 31) of their field goals and 82.4% (14 of 17) of their free throws to pump out a sparkling 1.18 points per possession.
WSU reeled off a 10-2 run in the final three minutes of the third quarter, capped by a Bre’yon White layup at the buzzer, to open up a 63-56 lead that was never relinquished for the final 10 minutes.
UAB scrapped back to within 3 early in the fourth quarter, but baskets by Blow and White restored the cushion. The Blazers briefly cut the deficit to 71-66 with 3:07 remaining, but Blow once again delivered in the clutch for the Shockers with a driving basket while being fouled for a 3-point play. She quickly followed with another jumper to secure the victory.
The Shockers return home to host preseason AAC favorite South Florida at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Koch Arena with the game available to stream on ESPN+.
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