Box Score ­­­Box Score

WICHITA, KS— Despite dominating the offensive glass and getting to the foul line 30 times, the Winthrop women's basketball team came up just short in a 71-69 road loss to Wichita State, Wednesday evening at Charles Koch Arena.
The Lady Eagles trailed by four points after Dequesha McClanahan hit one-of-two free throws and then the defense forced a turnover, but as McClanahan drove to the basket she was called for an offensive foul and fouled out of the game.
Winthrop bounced right back to force a turnover and get another chance to cut the lead as Diana Choibekova missed a three, but had another shot after an offensive rebound and hit a long jumper with 1.4 seconds left. The referees reviewed the call to make sure it was a two-point shot and it was confirmed. Wichita State was able to inbound the ball to run out the time coming out of a timeout.
In the end, turnovers proved costly as the Lady Eagles faced a lot of full court pressure and traps from the Shockers over the 40 minutes. Winthrop committed 23 turnovers that Wichita State took advantage of for 30 points.
Despite being undersized, the Lady Eagles outworked the Shockers on the glass and ended up with 23 offensive boards they turned into 23 points. All game long Winthrop attacked the basket with its guards, which paid off with 30 free throw attempts. As a team the Lady Eagles were 25-for-30 (83 percent).
With 14:21 to go in the game, Winthrop got to the bonus but moments later ran into foul trouble as McClanahan picked up her fourth foul with 11:18 left. At that point Winthrop led 51-50 after Choibekova connected on two free throws.
The teams traded baskets a couple of times over the next couple of minutes and McClanahan reentered the game with 7:56 to go with Wichita State up 56-55. After two Samiya Wright free throws cut the lead to one with 7:18, the Shockers' Jessica Diamond pulled up from behind the arc and drained their only three-point basket of the game to push the lead to four.
Every time Wichita State made an attempt to pull away, Winthrop stayed right in it. McClanahan answered the triple with a short jumper. Wichita State scored four quick points for a six-point lead with 4:39 left, but Choibekova came right back with a three to cut the lead in half.
With 1:39 left in the game, the Shockers owned a seven-point advantage, but McClanahan penetrated the lane and found Taylor Calvert underneath for an easy two. On the ensuing possession, Krystle Henderson was called for an offensive foul and Winthrop got the ball back down five. McClanahan drew another foul on a drive to the basket to get two more free throw attempts. The first one looked good off the release, but just bounced around the rim and out.
The first half saw the Lady Eagles claw their way back from an eight-point deficit to lead at the break, 36-32.
Winthrop didn't hit a single field goal for almost 10 minutes, but stayed in the game by aggressive attacking the basket off the dribble and on the boards. Over that stretch the Lady Eagles were 12-for-14 at the foul line.
Wichita State led 26-18 after a lay-up from Jazimen Gordon with 6:21 to go in the half. At that point Winthrop continued to work hard defensively and shots started to fall as it outscored the Shockers 18-6 the rest of the half.
Fitzgerald was working the boards in the first half as she pulled down nine total, with seven on the offensive glass as she helped Winthrop achieve 13 second chance points.
The Shockers bounced out to a 10-4 lead, but Winthrop fought back to take a 14-13 lead after five straight points from Wright.
Winthrop held the lead at the break despite Wichita State shooting 52 percent from the floor and getting 26-of-32 points in the paint.
Winthrop was led by Choibekova's 20 points as she scored 18 of them in the second half. McClanahan added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Wright finished with 11 points. Fitzgerland also had 11 points to go along with a career-high 14 rebounds for her first career double-double.
Wichita State shot nearly 50 percent from the field and was led by Gordon's 18 points. Diamond finished with 17 points while Cynna Turner added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Eagles will be in action just after the Thanksgiving holiday as they host Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1 p.m.