FORT WORTH – A Houston fourth quarter surge and turnovers put an end to Wichita State's run in the American Athletic Conference Championship with a 72-64 loss Wednesday night in the semifinals.
Wichita State (18-14) came up one game shy of the title game and now awaits its postseason fate. The Shockers will be in the conversation for a WNIT berth.
Curtessia Dean scored a team-high 15 points and Trajata Colbert added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Shamaryah Duncan had an all-around game, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds, while chasing around Houston's top scorers all night long on the defensive end.
Jane Asinde logged seven points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals before fouling out. Her eight rebounds give her 300 for the season, making her just the fifth Shocker to record 300 or more rebounds in a single season.
In the first meeting, which happened exactly one week ago, the game was decided in the turnover battle. Wichita State committed 22 in round one, and 21 today. Houston turned those miscues into 19 points.
Wichita State shot 46 percent overall and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc on 18 assists. The Cougars only had 10 turnovers and shot 43 percent.
Tiara Young scored a game-high 26 points, 10 of those in the fourth quarter when Houston stretched the lead.
The first quarter featured five lead changes after Wichita State grabbed a 9-5 lead on a Shamaryah Duncan three-pointer with 5:51 to go. The margin stayed within two points until Laila Blair started to heat up. A pull-up jumper from Blair made it 18-14 with 1:56 on the clock. She would score the final nine points for Houston, the last coming on a triple to give the Cougars a 23-17 lead at the end of the quarter.
Blair scored 11 first quarter points and Tiara Young added nine to create a two-headed scoring attack.
Wichita State's defense tightened up in the second quarter, holding Houston to just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. The Cougars led by as many as eight in the quarter, but their offensive struggles allowed Wichita State to climb back and take the lead, 30-29, at the 2:07 mark.
The lead traded hands twice in the final 1:22 until a pair of free throws sent Houston into the locker room with a 34-32 lead.
Both teams were an identical 13-of-31 (42 percent) from the field, but Houston scored eight points off 10 Wichita State turnovers.
Colbert led the Shockers with 10 first half points, followed closely behind by Duncan with eight. The Houston duo of Blair and Young scored 22 of Houston's 34 points.
After a Dean triple tied the game at 39 with 7:49 left in the third, neither team scored for more than 2:00 minutes until a Daniela Abies layup gave Wichita State a brief 41-39 lead.
A 6-0 Houston answer gave the Cougars a 45-41 advantage and would take a 49-47 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Houston scored on its opening possession of the final quarter to make it a four-point game, but a personal 6-0 run from Dean gave Wichita State a 53-51 lead and 7:59 remaining. The Cougars had their own response to retake the lead, 59-53, behind a 6-0 spurt, forcing a Wichita State timeout.
Out of the timeout, Houston upped its lead to eight behind a Young jumper and two free throws off a turnover.
Following another Wichita State timeout, Houston buried a three-pointer to take its largest lead of the game, 64-53. Wichita State's scoring drought finally came to an end on a top of the key jumper from Asinde that lasted nearly 4:00 minutes.
That drought proved to be too much to overcome, as Wichita State could not put together enough stops.