Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
WICHITA – Oral Roberts' fourth quarter run overtook the Shockers as Wichita State dropped its fourth straight, 76-74, Wednesday evening in Charles Koch Arena.
"Oral Roberts is tough team," head coach Terry Nooner said. "We knew they were going to be tough and come down here confident. We just lost our edge for whatever reason, but we're going to figure it out."
Sierra Morrow scored a career-high 29 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc, including a game-tying three pointer with 17 seconds left in the game. The senior transfer from Miami (OH) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and blocked two shots in her third game with the Shockers after sitting the first nine games while awaiting the NCAA's decision on her transfer waiver.
"We were happy with the execution at the end of the game," Nooner said. "Sierra had a heck of a game, and that's just the kind of player we brought in and why we've been talking about how much we missed her the first nine games of the season."
Daniela Abies also recorded a career high for the Shockers, scoring 19 points, her fourth time with 18-plus points this season, shooting 8-for-11.The first half was closely contested as the Golden Eagles went into halftime with just a one-point lead. Morrow and Abies combined for 23 of the Shockers' 34 first-half points, scoring all 17 of Wichita State's first-quarter points.
The Shockers had emphasized their third quarter performance during practices leading up to the game after their third quarter had been their lowest-scoring period in seven games, and Wichita State made the third quarter its best quarter, outscoring the Golden Eagles 22-10.Wichita State led by as many as 14 points before Oral Roberts went on a 16-2 run in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 63-63."Seems like a thing with our team this year is we fix one problem just to allow another problem," Nooner said.
The Shockers committed five turnovers in the fourth quarter, and the Golden Eagles capitalized on all five, scoring 10 points off turnovers.
Oral Roberts took its first lead since halftime, going up four with a little over a minute left in regulation. Morrow scored eight points for the Shockers, hitting a pair of free throws and two three pointers off an inbound to tie the game at 74-74 with 17 seconds left, but Oral Roberts' Meghan Weinrich powered through the Shocker defense, making what would become the game-winning driving layup with 4 seconds left.
Wichita State falls to 4-8 as the Golden Eagles improve to 7-4.The Shockers have a 10-day break before opening conference play at home against Tulane on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.