Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
HOUSTON, Texas – Turnovers troubled Wichita State as the Shockers fell 76-64 to Rice Wednesday evening in the Fertitta Center.
The Shockers (5-9, 1-1 AAC) committed 24 turnovers in their first American Athletic Conference loss of the season, while Rice (7-5, 1-0 AAC) opened their conference slate with a win.
"We try to keep our turnovers under 12 and for some reason, we kept giving the ball away, so we've got to try and get that fixed," head coach Terry Nooner said.
Redshirt-senior guard Tre'Zure Jobe recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Salese Blow led the Shockers in scoring, tying for a game-high 16 points in her third career start.
Sophomore forward Daniela Abies also finished in double figures for the ninth time this year, tallying 14 points and nine rebounds.
Wichita State won the battle of the boards, 38-37, and senior forward Sierra Morrow recorded a season-high three blocks.Five Owls finished in double figures, led by Dominique Ennis with a game-high 17 points.
The Shockers were only down three at halftime after going on a 10-2 run to close the gap on an 11-point deficit to finish the second quarter.
Wichita State came out swinging in the second half, scoring the first five points to take a two-point lead, but its third quarter woes returned as the Owls scored 12 points off eight turnovers, outscoring the Shockers 20-13 to go into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead.
Turnovers continued to plague the Shockers in the fourth quarter as Rice's lead didn't drop below nine despite an eight-point effort by Blow in the final period.
Wichita State continues its Texas road trip, looking for its first road win of the season at UTSA (6-7, 0-2 AAC) on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 p.m.