Nov. 29, 2007

Final Stats

WICHITA, Kansas - Wichita State shot 53 percent (8-of-15) from beyond-the-arc and dominated the glass as the Shockers edged past the Nicholls Lady Colonels, 61-51, Thursday night in Charles Koch Arena.

"I thought we showed signs of improvement in certain areas, but overall we still have a lot of things we need to work on before we start Southland Conference action," said head coach Mark Cook. "We did a good job of hold onto the ball and forced them to commit a lot of turnovers, but we were unable to capitalize on their mistakes and it caused us the game."

The Lady Colonels (1-5) came out fighting and played shot-for-shot with the Shockers (2-4) through the first 12 minutes of the contest. The Shockers started to pull away during the next seven minutes of the contest by extending their lead to 13, 29-16, with just 3:17 remaining in the first period. The Lady Colonels hung tough and sparked a 5-0 run to pull within eight, but the Shockers responded during the final minutes of the first period to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room at the break.

Nicholls started out the second half by cutting the lead to eight, but poor shooting and costly turnovers allowed the Shockers to take a 20-point lead, their largest lead in the game, 61-41 with just over five minutes remaining in the contest. The Lady Colonels responded by going on a 10-0 run during the final five minutes and held the Shockers without a field goal, but it wasn't enough as Nicholls dropped the contest, 61-51.

Katherine Plummer led the Lady Colonels with 15 points, five rounds and five assists, while Christie Bryant added 10 points and eight boards.

Kiki Stephens, who dished in 19 points and grabbed eight boards, and Kyrie Kinder who added 10 points and four assists led the Shockers.

Nicholls shot 31.1 percent from the floor, 27.8 percent from the three-point range and 57.1 percent from the line. Wichita State shot 44.4 percent from the floor, 53.3 from beyond-the-arc and 45.5 from the charity stripe.

The Shockers controlled the glass by out rebounding the Lady Colonels, 46-32, but Nicholls controlled the ball by forcing 23 turnovers compared to its 12.

The Lady Colonels will have a seven-day break before they return home to square off against SWAC opponent Prairie View A&M on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. in Stopher Gym.

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