OMAHA, Neb. – Wichita State dropped a tightly-contested overtime battle with Omaha, 72-67, Saturday afternoon in Baxter Arena.
Wichita State (1-1) dropped to 20-24 all-time in overtime contests in just the second-ever meeting with Omaha.
Shamaryah Duncan scored a career-high 17 points on a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point range to go with six rebounds. Fourteen of her 17 came in the second half and overtime. Trajata Colbert had another solid game, finishing with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Curtessia Dean added 13 points – 11 coming after halftime.
DJ McCarty pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points and six assists.
The Shockers held a noticeable size advantage, which led to Wichita State outrebounding Omaha 51-36, but a poor shooting day from long distance and 21 turnovers was the difference in the outcome. Omaha outscored Wichita State 20-6 off turnovers and was plus-13 in turnover margin.
Wichita State made the most of its opportunities at the free throw line, going 14-of-16.
Wichita State closed the first quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 13-7 lead into the second period. Ella Anciaux would provide another first half spark off the bench, chipping in five points to help the Shockers build a lead as many as nine in the first half.
With the Shockers leading 24-15 with 3:25 left in the half, Wichita State would not score another point the rest of the way, allowing Omaha to creep back into it. Omaha scored the final five points to make it 24-20 at the half.
McCarty and Colbert finished with six points apiece in the opening 20 minutes and the Shockers held the Mavericks to 6-of-30 from the field and 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
To start the third quarter, Omaha’s Grace Cave went on a personal 8-0 scoring run to give the Mavericks a 28-24 lead.
Omaha would go on to outscore Wichita State 19-12 in the third quarter to take a 39-36 lead into the final period.
The Mavericks pushed the lead to as many as seven with 4:28 to go in the fourth, but Wichita State had one final push left. Wichita State cut the deficit to just a point with under a minute left in regulation before Omaha called a timeout but had no timeouts remaining. That led to two technical free throws for Wichita State and Nhug Bosch Duran promptly converted on both to give Wichita State a 57-56 lead.
After Omaha misfired on a three-pointer on the other end, Duncan proceeded to knock down two more free throws to make it a three-point game with 21 seconds to go.
Wichita State needed just one stop on the defensive end to leave with a win, but Omaha’s Grace Cave got a wide open look at a tying triple, which found the bottom of the net. Dean’s game-winning floater in the lane fell off the rim, sending the game to overtime tied at 59.
To begin the overtime session, Duncan splashed in a pair of triples, but Omaha had an answer after each one. With the game tied at 65 and 2:23 left, Omaha grabbed a three-point lead with just over a minute to go. Two Colbert free throws cut it to one before the Mavericks iced the game at the free throw line in the final 10 seconds.
Up Next
Wichita State ends a two-game road trip at Oral Roberts Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
