Postseason wins are gold for WSU

The Women's Basketball Invitational has already proved beneficial to Wichita State.

The program's first postseason win was in Thursday's opening round. Extra practice time has allowed second-year coach Jody Adams to work more with a young team.

So going into today's quarterfinal matchup at Memphis, Adams is pretty pleased with what the postseason bid has provided her program.

"It's been a positive experience already," Adams said. "To get to work with our team a few more days and help contribute to the list of firsts for this program. This can only help our program grow, and in so many ways."

That pace has quickened the second half of the season. The Shockers have overachieved anyone's expectations and another chance at advancing in the tournament has energized the team.

This year's squad is one of three teams in school history with at least 18 wins.

With only a few days to prepare for the Tigers, Adams has shifted the focus away from what the Tigers do to the strengths of her own team.

"At this point in the season, you are who you are," Adams said. "We want to focus on what our strengths have been all year long. We want to be great defenders. We want to be able to get out and run. We're going to stick to our philosophy."

The Shockers played at Memphis last season, a 61-54 loss. But each team has had a makeover since that game.

"Not any at all," Adams said in rating how much the game will help this time around. "They've added a newcomer. They're an experienced team and they're familiar with their system. Their newcomer has really helped them out a lot."

After trailing by 11 at halftime to Akron on Thursday, WSU responded well with its season on the line. Adams was pleased with that fight.

But a better start will be crucial if the Shockers hope to keep playing past Sunday.

"There's not time to just settle in," Adams said. "You don't really get a chance to do that. You have to have great starts and you have to finish well. I was pleased with our second half (last game), but we definitely can't start that way against Memphis."