Wichita State women struggle to score in loss to Missouri
The Wichita State women’s basketball team lacked a lot of things on offense during a 57-37 loss to Missouri on Wednesday night at Koch Arena.
Lack of movement, lack of passes, and most of all, lack of points in the lowest-scoring output at home in nearly 26 years as the Shockers fell to 0-2.
“It was a lack of effort,” said Jaleesa Chapel, a team captain. “I don’t think we had enough heart out there.”
November was supposed to be difficult for this team, which lost 96 percent of its offensive production from last year’s team that made it three straight years of winning the Missouri Valley championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
But Wednesday night exceeded those expectations.
Wichita State didn’t score its first basket until its 13th possession of the game and scored just twice in its first 24 as Missouri opened an 18-6 lead that never was trimmed under nine points the rest of the game.
The Shockers ran through their sets, made cuts, and set screens all at seemingly half-speed. For a young team that needs to find as many efficient shots as possible, half of WSU’s offense came from rushed shots at the end of the shot clock.
As a result, WSU finished with 30.4 percent shooting and 19 turnovers.
“I just think the game is very fast for them right now,” WSU coach Jody Adams said. “If we would have got to our first and second hit, it wouldn’t come down to having to ball screen and taking a tough shot against height.”
Tempo, or rather lack of it, was identified as the culprit for the worst offensive performance in the Adams era.
“If we would have sprinted to our spots and kept the ball moving around and get our cuts set up, I think we would have had better opportunities to score on offense,” said point guard Aundra Stovall.
Instead, Wichita State gravitated toward the perimeter due to Missouri’s height advantage and settled for jumper after jumper. Nearly half — 22 of 46 — of WSU’s shots were three-pointers and the team took just eight shots in the paint.
Adams took responsibility for her team’s disjointed offense.
“I just didn’t like our tempo and I thought (Missouri) took advantage of that,” Adams said. “Our tempo has to change and that starts with me in practice. I’ve got to stop stopping and teaching so much and let us figure out some ways and these guys have to work and hear each other on the fly. That’s chemistry and you’re developing that at this point.”
The lack of offense spoiled a solid defensive performance, holding a veteran Missouri team to 57 points and forcing 21 turnovers.
“We have to step up and learn from this and remember what this feels like because we’re going to get that in the Valley too,” Adams said. “We’ve just got to continue along in this journey and we’re seeing glimpses that are so very bright and that’s what drives you to continue.”
Missouri | 12 | 16 | 13 | 16 | — | 57 |
Wichita St. | 6 | 10 | 11 | 10 | — | 37 |
MISSOURI (3-0): Hudyn 0-0 0-0 0, Frericks 5-9 2-3 12, S. Cunningham 3-6 4-4 10, L. Cunningham 0-1 0-0 0, Michaelis 4-7 2-2 13, Doty 1-1 0-0 2, Mo. Stock 0-0 2-2 2, B. Porter 1-3 1-2 3, Ma. Stock 0-1 0-0 0, McDowell 0-1 0-0 0, C. Porter 3-5 5-6 11, Robinson 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 19-37 16-19 57.
WICHITA STATE (0-2): Francis 3-6 0-2 7, Martin 1-2 0-1 2, Stovall 1-7 0-2 2, Lockhart 3-11 0-0 9, Chapel 2-6 1-2 6, Pacar 1-3 1-2 3, Mike 2-8 0-0 5, Lehne 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 14-46 3-11 37.
Three-point shooting—MU 3-9 (Michaelis 3-5, S. Cunningham 0-1, L. Cunningham 0-1, Ma. Stock 0-1, Robinson 0-1), WSU 6-22 (Lockhart 3-7, Mike 1-1, Francis 1-2, Chapel 1-4, Pacar 0-2, Lehne 0-2, Stovall 0-4). Rebounds—MU 33 (Frericks 6), WSU 23 (Chapel 5). Assists—MU 9 (Three tied at 2), WSU 9 (Pacar 3). Fouls—MU 17, WSU 18. A—1,479.
This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Wichita State women struggle to score in loss to Missouri."