Abies Sets AAC Tournament Rebound Record
#AmericanHoops
Wichita States Daniela Abies Breaks AAC Single-Game Tournament Rebound Record. photo by Art Boone Jr
Fort Worth, Texas—Wichita State came out firing in the first game of the AAC conference tournament shocking Florida Atlantic Owls 64-50 with a shocker performance by sophomore forward Daniela Abies in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon contest hosted by Dickies Arena. The Shockers won 64-50 behind 22 points and a tournament record 22 rebounds from Abies.
During press conference Shockers head coach Terry Nooner indicated his teams seems to be coming together at the right time. “I’m just so proud of my team, “we worked so hard. We’ve been so close in so many games throughout the season, and we’ve been wanting to just figure out how we can crack that ceiling and get wins, so I’m just happy for the players. They work so hard every single day.”
photo by Art Boone Jr
Spain native Abies, a Malaga recorded a career-high 22 rebounds with nine of them on the offensive, shattering the AAC tournament single-game record for total rebounds and tying the record for offensive rebounds.
“It’s something I threw at her as jokes a few times, telling her that I need 20 points and 20 rebounds,” Nooner said. “I’m just so happy for her and the performance that she had, and it’s a testament to her hard work.”
Abies performance is the first time a Shocker since Antoinette Wells in 2006 to grabbed 20-plus rebounds in a game and ties for No. 6 all-time in Wichita State history in single-game rebounds. She also moves up to No. 7 in Shocker history for total rebounds in a season with 289.
photo by Art Boone Jr
“It was just one of the goals that Coach Nooner was telling me from the beginning of the season, to get 20/20, so for me having that today was really important because I was really helping the team,” Abies said. Wichita State out-rebounded FAU 48-43, tying for the most offensive rebounds in an AAC Championship game in program history with 17.
Two Shockers joined Abies in double figures with Jayla Murray and Salese Blow scoring 12 and 11, respectively, and Raissa Nsabua dished out a career-high five assists. Wichita State shot just 4-for-19 (.211) from three but scored 34 points in the paint while holding FAU to 18-for-59 (.305) from the field.
FAU’s Janeta Rozentale opened the scoring in the fourth, bringing the Owls back within two, 45-43. Wichita State then went on a 7-2 run to extend its lead back to seven, 52-45. The Owls answered back with five unanswered points on an and-1 from Tylka and Rozentale layup, to close the gap back to two, 52-50, with 3:43 to play, however the Owls’ just couldn’t get another shot to fall as the Shockers closed the contest on a 12-0 run to close out the 64-50 contest.
The Shockers finished the game on a 12-0 run over the final two and a half minutes and held the Owls to just nine fourth quarter points. After going up seven early in the second quarter, the Shockers went cold, ending the quarter 4-for-15 (.267), only making two field goals in the last 8:03 of the half to give the Owls a one-point advantage.
Abies was held to just five first-half points but grabbed 12 rebounds before halftime but came out in the second half and scored the first points of the half.
photo by Art Boone Jr
In a game that saw 13 lead changes and nine ties, the Shockers went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter to regain the lead for the final time. Blow hit a three in the last 10 seconds of the quarter, giving Wichita State a four-point lead. Abies scored 12 of the Shockers’ 19 fourth-quarter points, leading them to a 12-0 run to end the game.
Wichita State has now won four of its last five conference tournament openers and will take on No. 5-seed South Florida in the second round on Sunday at 2 p.m. #AmericanHoops