Shockers lock down on defense against Bradley

It may seem normal because defensive excellence has been the standard this season for the Wichita State women’s basketball team, but Sunday’s 66-36 victory over Bradley at Koch Arena was not normal.

For the fourth time this season WSU held an opponent under 40 points, as it extracted a season-high 28 turnovers from an opponent and kept Bradley submerged by holding it to 34-percent shooting on Sunday.

The performance pulled Wichita State (20-4, 11-1 MVC) even with Drake for the Missouri Valley lead with six games remaining and extended its program-best home winning streak to 15 games.

It even led coach Jody Adams to make the claim it was the most complete defensive performance of the season, high praise considering the Shockers were holding teams to 37-percent shooting and forcing nearly 20 turnovers per game.

“Overall, for 40 minutes, no doubt it was,” Adams said.

When the Shockers reach their peak level, it’s when Alex Harden and Jamillah Bonner are playing the way they did on Sunday.

Since Bonner transferred to WSU from Butler Community College before last season, the pair have become standouts on the defensive end with their complimentary styles. They might be the best athletes in the Valley, while Harden has more length and Bonner has better acceleration.

Combined, they are a nightmare for opposing ball handlers. They are averaging nearly five steals per game, and on Sunday they peaked with nine combined steals.

“I love playing with Alex because I can trust her when I’m on the ball,” Bonner said. “I just know she’ll be there, up the line, ready to get that steal on the next pass.”

One of the finest stretches of the season came to close the first half, as Wichita State held Bradley without a field goal for the final 10:26 of the half. That totaled 17 possessions, nine of which came to an end due to a turnover.

Bradley’s offense is not an efficient one, so it relies heavily in creating a high-pace game and scoring in transition. Wichita State eliminated this part of its offense, and not surprisingly, Bradley crumbled.

The 36 points and 38 shot attempts were both season-lows for Bradley (4-20, 3-10 MVC), while it was the sixth time it has committed 28 turnovers or more.

“That’s just Shocker defense for you,” Harden said.

Even better was the defensive intensity carried over to a good showing offensively, as Wichita State made 24 of 46 shots. And that’s with the team missing seven layups.

It was a 30-point game before the midway point in the second half and Harden was near her best, tallying 26 points on 10-of-16 to go with eight rebounds.

Perhaps the best sign of the game was Wichita State’s execution against the zone defense, as Adams was pleased to see how her team sliced it up time after time with dribble penetration.

“We were letting the ball travel by air against the zone, instead of bouncing the ball in the seams,” Adams said. “I think you saw when we bounced the ball in the seams, we made their defense collapse and we found open shots. It was just a better job overall.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2015 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Shockers lock down on defense against Bradley."