Wichita State women get past Texas-Arlington 71-61
At 6-foot-5, Texas-Arlington’s Rebekah Van Dijk is a player with size this Wichita State women’s basketball team will never be able to match.
But over the years, under coach Jody Adams, the Shockers have learned how to mask their deficiencies well. They can survive giving up 18 offensive rebounds. They can survive allowing Van Dijk to snatch 16 rebounds, eight offensive. They can survive with senior Jamillah Bonner, their 5-8 point guard, being the team’s leading rebounder.
On Saturday, when WSU rebuffed a much taller Texas-Arlington team in a 71-61 victory at Koch Arena, Bonner (game-high 21 points, team-high 10 rebounds) exemplified all of Wichita State’s best traits. Gritty. Tenacious. Fearless.
“Give credit to JB’s heart,” WSU coach Jody Adams said. “Give credit to JB’s ability to out-work, and to continue to fight for those types of rebounds for this team. That’s just natural and that’s how JB is. She’s a fighter.”
For Texas-Arlington, a team picked to finish ninth in the 11-team Sun Belt Conference, its lone advantage over WSU was its skyscrapers in the post. While Van Dijk did grab eight offensive rebounds, UTA connected than less than half of its shots in the paint (17 for 36).
Kelsey Jacobs played a crucial role in a strong defensive performance, as she was the only Shocker that possessed the length to disrupt shots and then to tip out rebounds to the perimeter, where WSU had better chances of collecting them.
“I had to use my speed and quickness compared to their body and size,” Jacobs said. “I had to try to play 6-5 with my length.”
The game-defining decision came when Michaela Dapprich was whistled for her fourth foul in her sixth minute of game action 15 seconds into the second half. With no reliable post presence on her bench, Adams decided to reinsert Dapprich with WSU trailing 37-36 and 16:26 left.
Dapprich responded by beginning the game-turning 13-0 run with back-to-back layups, and then capping it with her trademark, a three-pointer from straight on, to give WSU a 53-41 lead. Dapprich scored 11 of her 16 points with four fouls and stayed on the court for nearly 16 straight minutes, giving WSU an invaluable veteran presence.
“That’s her maturity,” Adams said. “Understanding the game, putting emotion aside, and doing what her team needs her to do.”
Wichita State’s offense recovered nicely from a lackluster effort in a 28-point road loss to Eastern Washington. The tempo improved and better ball movement all around created better driving angles against a scrambling defense. That produced quality shots at the rim or open jumpers, usually converted by Alie Decker (13 points, 3 for 3 on three-pointers), Dapprich or Bonner.
And just when Texas-Arlington thought it had come up with a stop, Bonner challenged the giants inside and emerge from the scrum with the ball. Six times she did this, devastating UTA each time.
“I don’t really know how I do it, I just go,” Bonner said. “That’s what needed to be done, and that’s my role.”
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (2-1): Johnson 6-10 4-7 17, Pope 2-5 0-0 4, Williams 3-8 0-0 7, Green 3-8 0-0 6, Van Dijk 6-14 1-3 13, Treas 0-3 0-0 0, Zaleckaite 1-2 0-0 2, Hunt 5-7 0-0 10, Wainwright 0-0 0-0 0, Te’o 1-3 0-0 2, Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Holly 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 5-10 61.
WICHITA ST. (2-1): Bonner 7-15 5-8 21, White 2-4 0-0 4, Jacobs 2-3 1-3 5, Harden 5-10 2-3, Mi. Dapprich 6-9 2-5 16, Stovall 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Decker 4-6 2-2 13, Mo. Dapprich 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-51 12-21 71.
Halftime – Wichita St. 35, UTA 31. Three-point shooting – UTA 2-10 (Johnson 1-2, Williams 1-3, Treas 0-1, Pope 0-2, Green 0-2); Wichita St. 7-10 (Decker 3-3, Mi. Dapprich 2-2, Bonner 2-4, Stovall 0-1). Rebounds – UTA 35 (Van Dijk 16), Wichita St. 32 (Bonner 10). Assists – UTA 12 (Green 4), Wichita St. 14 (Bonner, Jacobs 4). Fouls – UTA 22, Wichita St. 18. Fouled out – Mi. Dapprich. A – 1,549.
This story was originally published November 22, 2014 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Wichita State women get past Texas-Arlington 71-61."