Shockers look for second-half success

Second-half letdowns against Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian didn’t mean much – the Wichita State women’s basketball team won both of those games this month by double digits.

Against South Dakota State last week, a poor third quarter turned a winnable game into a losing rout, as SDSU turned a five-point halftime lead into a 78-58 win at Koch Arena.

The Shockers (5-6), who open Missouri Valley Conference play on Friday against Drake, have outscored opponents in first halves this season. Their glaring shortcoming has happened after halftime, as WSU has been outscored 395-334 in the final two quarters.

“We’ve talked about that,” WSU coach Jody Adams-Birch said. “We’re aware, they’re aware and they have been aware of that third quarter. I don’t know if we’re pressing now to a point that I don’t really want to say anything about that third quarter, because we’ve talked about it so much.”

WSU has frequently started games well, such as when it led Abilene Christian 30-6 after the first quarter, or when the Shockers took a double-digit lead on Creighton during the second quarter of the season opener.

When WSU plays with high energy, it seems to affect the entire team. Momentum can last for the entire first half when the Shockers turn defensive pressure into a fluid dribble-drive offense that creates open shots for everybody.

Those spurts haven’t often lasted deep into the second half. WSU has outscored opponents five times in 11 third-quarter tries, but in those five games the Shockers have been beaten in the fourth quarter four times.

“How to change that, how to make that third quarter better – obviously it’s in the back of our minds as coaches,” Adams-Birch said. “We don’t want it to be in the front of (the players’) minds. We want it to be 0-0 going into the third quarter. We’ve taken that approach the last couple games.”

WSU’s best second half happened on Dec. 2, when it turned a two-point halftime lead on Arkansas State into a 69-51 win with a 38-22 second-half advantage. It has been difficult for the Shockers to recapture that, but Adams-Birch has options.

“We’re trying to get them back on the court early,” Adams-Birch said. “It comes to someone truly stepping up and leading this team and saying, OK, we need a steal. We need a stop. We need a score. And everybody on the court recognizing just that, and bearing down and getting it done.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2016 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Shockers look for second-half success."