WSU women beat Northern Iowa, advance to MVC title game
The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. represents much more to the Wichita State women’s basketball team than just the location of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
It is the place where the Shockers do their most important work of the season. It is a place where they take their already superior play and dial it up another notch. It is a place where they win.
Wichita State made it eight straight wins in St. Charles on Saturday, defeating fourth-seeded Northern Iowa 56-42 to advance to its third consecutive championship game against Missouri State Sunday at 2 p.m.
“It’s do-or-die time,” WSU senior Alex Harden said. “It’s a totally different mindset when you get here. You know you have to give every inch of your body and 100 percent on every play.”
During the regular season, Wichita State held Valley opponents to 51.6 points per game. It was the best in the conference by nearly nine points. The Shockers are simply more athletic than their peers and WSU coach Jody Adams has devised a system that has exploited it better than any team in her seven years.
“The key word is trust,” Adams said. “They trust each other, they trust the game plan, and I trust them.”
In its first two tournament games this week Wichita State has held Loyola and Northern Iowa to 42 points each with 30.6 percent shooting and 32 turnovers.
UNI had some of those in the first half on Saturday and didn’t convert. WSU never gave a second chance.
“I think Wichita State is probably one of the best defensive teams in the history of our conference,” UNI coach Tanya Warren said. “When you get open looks, you’ve got to knock them down because you’re not going to get a lot of them. You have to take advantage of them and we weren’t able to do that.”
The Panthers (17-14) marched to their sixth straight winning season behind the three-point shot, leading the Valley with 9.4 per game this season.
They once again fired on Saturday, hoisting up 22 of three-pointers, but only connected on three. It was a season-low for UNI, and the first time it had been held below six made threes in 2015.
“What bothers them is just staying in front,” WSU senior Kelsey Jacobs said. “They’re very smart and detailed and they just wait for you to make a mistake. So that’s where us being really athletic and long helped.”
WSU simply grinds teams down to the point of exhaustion.
“It’s tough having to work for every single bucket you get,” UNI point guard Madison Weekly said.
WSU defense covered up a medicore showing from the Shockers’ offense.
WSU used a 7-0 spurt midway through the first half to build an 11-point lead and never allowed the margin to slip into single-digits the second half. Harden led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Jacobs added 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
Now the Shockers are one win away from their third straight NCAA Tournament berth.
“This team understands what winning feels like, more so than losing,” Adams said. “So winning has become a habit for them. It’s in their DNA.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "WSU women beat Northern Iowa, advance to MVC title game."