Valley struggles continue for WSU women (+video)
Desperately needing a basket to mount its comeback, the Wichita State women’s basketball team dialed up a pick-and-roll at the top of the key with point guard Diamond Lockhart and post Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage.
Lockhart initially rejected the screen, then took it and Lozada-Cabbage expertly slipped the second time and rolled to the basket.
The play was there. The angle was there. The chemistry wasn’t, as Lockhart’s pass was a split-second too late and was intercepted.
That’s just how things have gone this season for Wichita State (5-18, 2-10 Missouri Valley) in a 55-50 loss to Bradley at Koch Arena on Friday night.
“There were just some timing issues of completing plays that were just missing,” WSU coach Jody Adams said. “Those are things that we’ve got to continue to work on.”
It has been a frustrating season for Adams. Not just because WSU has fallen from its perch atop the conference, but because early-season injuries decimated a team she felt was promising and it has been playing catch-up ever since.
A perfect representation was on the late-game situation with Lockhart and Lozada-Cabbage, with WSU trailing 54-50 and the clock ticking below 40 seconds.
This was the fourth game Lozada-Cabbage had played double-digit minutes, meaning she had barely any experience playing meaningful minutes with Lockhart. A turnover due to missed timing isn’t surprising.
“We are together as one, but sometimes when we ad-lib on the court we don’t know how to feed off of each other,” said junior TaQuandra Mike. “We still have that to work on.”
When Mike has her outside shot falling, few can score in bunches like her in the Valley. On Friday, Mike drained four three-pointers and made 9 of 18 shots to score a game-high 25 points.
Not even a scoring outburst like that could save the Shockers when the rest of the team combined for 10 made field goals and 26-percent shooting.
The most notable disappearance was by Rangie Bessard, WSU’s leading scorer at better than 15 points.
Bessard torched Bradley in their first meeting, posting her most impressive game to date (27 points, 18 rebounds). On Friday, Bessard missed all eight of her shots, four coming in the paint, and was held to her second-lowest scoring total (4) in her 17-game career.
“Rangie is a great presence for us,” Adams said. “It’s a go-to and it’s a must. She was right there at the rim and it just didn’t fall for her today.”
Wichita State led 41-34 in the fourth quarter, but allowed a team winless (and losing by an average of 17 points) on the road in conference to rally for a victory that all but seals WSU’s fate to the play-in round at the conference tournament.
“We can’t keep our heads down,” Mike said. “We’ll just have to pick it up and move on and think about the next game. But at the end of the day, I hope we get to play them again in the tournament and redeem ourselves.”
Bradley | 13 | 11 | 10 | 21 | — | 55 |
Wichita St. | 12 | 12 | 14 | 12 | — | 50 |
BRADLEY (7-16, 3-9): Brewer 1-3 0-0 2, Sims 5-8 4-5 14, Yelle 0-1 0-4 0, Tinjum 2-6 0-0 4, Schlueter 4-7 2-4 13, Eshoo 1-2 0-0 3, Burrell 0-1 0-0 0, Lerma 5-11 1-6 11, Kendall 3-3 1-4 7, Markert 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 21-43 9-25 55.
WICHITA ST. (5-18, 2-10): Lockhart 2-8 0-0 4, Lozada-Cabbage 3-6 0-0 6, Mike 9-18 3-6 25, Chapel 3-6 0-0 6, Bessard 0-8 4-6 4, Mortimer 0-0 0-0 0, Stovall 0-4 0-0 0, Francis 0-2 1-2 1, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Lehne 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 19-56 8-14 50.
Three-point shooting – Bradley 4-11 (Schlueter 3-6, Eshoo 1-2, Brewer 0-1, Yelle 0-1, Tinjum 0-1), WSU 4-16 (Mike 4-7, Lozada-Cabbage 0-1, Stovall 0-1, Francis 0-1, Bessard 0-2, Lockhart 0-4). Rebounds – Bradley 39 (Sims 10), WSU 31 (Lozada-Cabbage 6). Assists – Bradley 8 (Yelle 4), WSU 7 (Lockhart, Mike, Bessard 2). Fouls – Bradley 20, WSU 21. A – 1,373.
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Valley struggles continue for WSU women (+video)."