Shocker women host a lot of basketball this weekend

The non-conference portion of Wichita State’s women’s basketball schedule has taken first-year coach Keitha Adams and the Shockers to places such as Omaha; Stillwater, Okla.; Albuquerque; and Knoxville, Tenn.

There hasn’t been much “Wichita” on the schedule until recently.

WSU is in the middle of playing 5 of 7 games at Koch Arena, including three straight following the conclusion of this weekend’s Shocker Winter Classic. WSU (3-8) plays Chicago State on Friday and Alcorn State on Saturday.

The Shockers have won three of their last five following an 0-6 start that included losses at Creighton, Tennessee and New Mexico.

“It’s just nice to be at home for three games consecutive,” Adams said. “We’ve just been on the road a lot. You’ve got to travel tough, and I think when you go on the road and play the teams we’ve played, we’ve found out a lot about our team early. Things that were our weaknesses and what we weren’t good at it.

“I think those things have helped us and we’ve learned from it, but it’s definitely nice to be at home and have some back-to-back games at home.”

Adams has used the first month of the season to find the style that best suits the Shockers, find optimal lineup combinations and work in new players among a group that includes eight seniors and a junior starter, Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage.

The mainstays have been seniors Rangie Bessard and Diamond Lockhart, who have started all 11 games. Seven others have started at least one game, while freshman Alyssia Faye has played in every game as a reserve.

Changing lineups have resulted in inconsistencies in effort and results. For example, WSU defeated Missouri State by 14 points at home but lost to its former Missouri Valley Conference rival by 23 in Springfield, Mo.

“When you’re a new coach and you’re trying to learn about your players, you’re looking at different combinations,” Adams said. “We’re starting to find our rotation and it’s starting to fall in place where 9-10 kids is a good rotation.

“But I’m always challenging our kids that if you’re coming in every day in practice and doing some things that I really notice and will help us win games, things are always open to change.”

WSU is outrebounding opponents, averaging more than 14 assists and shooting nearly 80 percent on free throws. Those statistics have come out favorable overall while sometimes fluctuating game-to-game.

“We’ve got to be mentally ready to play every night out,” Adams said. “We’ve had a couple games where we were flat, but we’ve played some really good teams, too. We’ve competed in some games, and then there’s been some games where I wanted us to play harder. I think they’ve learned some valuable lessons.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Shocker women host a lot of basketball this weekend."