WSU women prepare for tougher nonconference schedule
The Wichita State women’s basketball team cannot afford to wait until March to start playing the basketball that the month requires.
With three 2014 NCAA Tournament teams on this season’s non-conference slate, the Shockers are practicing as if they are playing in the postseason.
“We’re all going in like it’s March,” said WSU senior Alex Harden, the pre-season Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. “We’re making sure every little detail is down because when it comes to games we’re not used to, we need to know how to get out of it.”
Wichita State enters this season picked to win the conference for the third straight season, and for good reason. The team returns four of five starters, including Harden, who is without a doubt the top two-way force in the league.
But coach Jody Adams has decided to beef up the schedule in November and December, which WSU could use to make a compelling case to the NCAA Tournament selection committee as an at-large berth.
So practices and games such as Sunday’s exhibition at Koch Arena against Newman are crucial. WSU opens the season at home on Nov. 15 against Creighton.
“It’s all about us crunching inches out and trying to perfect things that we’ve done within our system since I’ve gotten here,” Adams said. “We’re all about perfecting and putting these players in the right positions so they can be successful on both sides of the ball.”
Even with three defections from last season’s roster and two fewer recruits than expected, Wichita State is ahead of where it was at this time last season. That’s because eight of 10 eligible players this season have at least one season under Adams.
And when you’re in Adams’ system, that makes a stark difference.
“We’re going (harder) in practice now,” senior guard Jamillah Bonner said. “There’s less teaching. It’s more about the details. We’re focusing on actually getting everything right and perfect.”
Wichita State has discovered the last two seasons that the style and play of Missouri Valley teams is entirely different than what it has seen in the NCAA Tournament against the likes of Texas A&M and Penn State.
Those teams roll out front lines with 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5 giants patrolling the middle of the lane.
Playing power-conference teams such as Tennessee, Ohio State, Kansas State and Clemson this season should give the Shockers more experience playing against taller and more athletic teams if they are able to make another NCAA run.
“At the end of the day, we’re still going to fight and hunt,” Harden said. “That’s what this non-conference will prove. We’re going to be underdogs and we’re going to show our skills and work hard and see what comes out of it.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 8:29 PM with the headline "WSU women prepare for tougher nonconference schedule."