Shockers clinch share of third consecutive MVC title

Establishing a winner takes a special type of leader, but so does sustaining one.

Alex Harden, Kelsey Jacobs, and Jamillah Bonner will not be remembered for lifting the Wichita State women’s basketball team from the bottom. The three seniors will be remembered for keeping it at the top.

Behind the three seniors, Wichita State clinched at least a share of its third consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championship on Sunday, completing a perfect 16-0 season at Koch Arena with a 66-54 victory over Northern Iowa.

“There’s a difference between talking the hype and being the hype,” WSU coach Jody Adams said to the 2,183 in attendance for senior day after the win. “And let me tell you guys, they are the hype.”

It elicited a roar from the crowd on a day full of them. Wichita State (24-4, 15-1 MVC) wasn’t at its peak form on Sunday, but found enough bursts of it throughout to best the Panthers.

The lead grew to as many as 14 points in the second half, but UNI reeled off a 9-0 run to trim the lead to five with 36 seconds left. But that was as close as it came, as WSU powered through by a game-high 23 points from Bonner.

When the buzzer sounded, players celebrated what they thought was just a victory for their seniors. Then they found out about Drake’s blowout loss at Missouri State, which meant they were champions for the third straight year.

Emotions were heightened already by senior day. The championship amplified them even more.

“It felt like it was all just meant to be,” Jacobs said.

Wichita State reached what it believed to be its destiny, but Adams made it clear it did not happen by chance.

“It’s not by luck it ended this way,” Adams said, “it’s by work, it’s by investment, it’s by belief, it’s by trust that these guys get to finish on their home court this way.”

Adams trusted Harden, Jacobs, and Bonner to take this program to new heights. Harden, Jacobs, and Bonner trusted Adams to show them how.

Reaching the pinnacle of that mutual trust is not easy. Adams has a knack for knowing how to push players to their mental and physical limits. When players reach this limit, Adams calls it the “red zone.” How players respond while in the ‘red zone’ is what separates good leaders from great ones, in Adams’ opinion.

“It’s all about them believing in my vision and allowing me to take them there,” Adams said. “I’ve taken them to the ‘red zone’ every day and they have a choice. They believed in me in the ‘red zone,’ and you don’t get many like that.”

They believed because Adams earned their trust.

On Sunday, they were cutting down the net just like Adams promised.

“That was my dream and it came true,” said Bonner, a Wichita native. “I couldn’t wish for nothing more.”

The team promised more memories to its fans after the game, as the Shockers can win the title outright Thursday at Evansville. And there’s still the MVC tournament that they may still need to win for a berth in the NCAA tournament.

But Sunday was about celebrating the tenaciousness of Bonner, the versatility of Jacobs, and the greatness of Harden.

And Harden left one final imprint, a coast-to-coast, twisting lay-up she finished off-balanced and at the rim while being fouled. She finished with 11 points.

It was the perfect ending for a perfect day.

“That’s something the fans can remember me by,” Harden said, flashing a smile.

This story was originally published March 1, 2015 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Shockers clinch share of third consecutive MVC title."