Missouri State women make most of Shocker mistakes (+video)
Parts of what the Wichita State women’s basketball team needed to beat Missouri State were there in Saturday’s matinee at Koch Arena.
Jumpers were falling and the rubix cube that is Jaleesa Chapel’s offensive game finally solved itself with the junior matching her career-high of 12 points.
But this season bits and pieces won’t get the job done for Wichita State. It needs the whole thing and it couldn’t deliver that on Saturday in a 77-57 loss to Missouri State, as 24 turnovers and allowing 18 offensive rebounds sunk the Shockers.
The loss snapped an 8-game winning streak over Missouri State and a 10-game winning streak over the Bears at Koch Arena. It also concluded the first half of conference play with WSU (5-15, 2-7 MVC) near the bottom and MSU (14-7, 7-2) at the top.
“I can’t say that we showed up collectively and had everybody in place that we needed today,” WSU coach Jody Adams said. “They needed to settle in and we just had a couple of players that didn’t settle in this game.”
The first half was one of the most impressive displays by Wichita State this season, as it was able to overcome allowing 23 points off 14 turnovers by making half of its shots (11 of 22) to keep Missouri State within 36-31 at halftime.
But Missouri State would go on to score 30 points off turnovers and 18 points off second-chance opportunities, two categories that the Shockers feel like they should control better.
Giving so much leeway to one of the strongest teams in the Valley went predictably poorly for the Shockers, as Missouri State pulled away in the third quarter and led by double-figures for the final 17 minutes.
“It’s frustrating because we constantly do it and it’s fixable,” said TaQuandra Mike of the 19.7 turnovers WSU is averaging. “In practice we work on it and we get better at it, but when we get in games sometimes we freak out and we go too fast. We have to learn how to slow it down.”
The positive, moving forward, was Chapel showing the ability to knock down the mid-range jumper consistently, something that has plagued her for three years at Wichita State. She made four of the six jump shots she took and her 6-of-9 shooting performance included the most made field goals in a game in her career.
“I’ve been working on that shot my whole life,” Chapel said. “Right now I’m getting the confidence to knock it down for my teammates.”
If teams viewed Chapel as an offensive liability for WSU before Saturday, then she hopes the tape from this game will show teams she can make them pay for laying off.
“I thought we saw Chapel’s best game today,” Adams said. “They can’t help off of her. They have to guard her athleticism. They have to guard her aggressiveness. They have to be conscious of her now. It’s always been in this young lady and I’m really happy that she found that warrior in her.”
Missouri State | 20 | 16 | 23 | 18 | — | 77 |
Wichita State | 15 | 16 | 16 | 10 | — | 57 |
MISSOURI STATE (14-7, 7-2): Gitzen 2-5 0-0 4, Williams 4-10 4-4 16, Chvatal 5-6 2-4 13, Holt 1-7 1-2 4, Snow 6-11 3-5 15, Hughes 3-6 1-1 7, Polowy 0-0 0-0 0, Fruendt 4-10 2-2 11, Swartz 0-0 0-0 0, Osemenam 1-3 2-2 4, Vander Weide 1-2 0-2 3. Totals 27-60 15-22 77.
WICHITA STATE (5-15, 2-7): Bessard 4-10 2-2 10, Martin 2-2 1-2 5, Stovall 2-4 0-0 6, Mike 6-16 5-5 18, Chapel 6-9 0-0 12, Mortimer 0-0 0-0 0, Lockhart 1-4 4-4 6, Francis 0-0 0-0 0, Lehne 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 12-13 57.
Three-point shooting—MSU 8-21 (Williams 4-7, Holt 1-1, Chvatal 1-2, Vander Weide 1-2, Fruendt 1-5, Snow 0-1, Hughes 0-1, Gitzen 0-2); WSU 3-11 (Stovall 2-4, Mike 1-5, Bessard 0-1, Lockhart 0-1). Rebounds—MSU 35 (Snow 12), WSU 27 (Mike 8). Assists—MSU 17 (Williams 6), WSU 8 (Mike 5). Fouls—MSU 16, WSU 20. A—1,552.
This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Missouri State women make most of Shocker mistakes (+video)."