Wichita State tops Loyola in overtime

Good luck trying to figure out this Wichita State women’s basketball team.

The Shockers have looked so discombobulated at times this season on offense that it’s astounding when things come as fluidly as they did Sunday in Wichita State’s 65-62 overtime victory over Loyola at Koch Arena.

Just two days after losing to Bradley, a team that has floated near last place, Wichita State (6-18, 3-10 Missouri Valley) came through to knock off one of the better teams in the Missouri Valley in Loyola (12-12, 8-5).

“We played the game the right way,” WSU head coach Jody Adams said. “We were very unselfish offensively. Defensively, we were together and in sync. We did things that you see on a winning team.”

There have been quarters, and a half sprinkled in here and there, where Wichita State has maintained its punch on offense. But as far as consistently goes, that’s been the extent.

On Sunday, Wichita State was powered throughout by Rangie Bessard, clearly playing to redeem herself after an 0-for-8 shooting performance on Friday against Bradley. The sophomore transfer made 11 of 18 shots against Loyola, finishing with 26 points to go along with nine rebounds and a defensive effort that limited all-MVC player Taylor Manuel (10 points, four rebounds).

“I told my team, ‘I got you,’ before the game,” Bessard said. “I went out there and gave it my all. I was kind of feeling it tonight.”

“She was just a beast,” Adams added.

When Bessard is playing at that level, Wichita State has a chance against any team in the Valley. She found just enough support with Diamond Lockhart (11 points) and TaQuandra Mike (13 points) each coming through with timely shots and freshman Ellie Lehne (five points, nine rebounds, three blocks) logging her most productive game yet.

After ending the first quarter on a 16-4 run to take a 5-point lead, Wichita State stayed in front all the way until Loyola converted a three-point play with 2:01 remaining in the fourth quarter to take a 57-54 lead.

But it was Mike who bailed Wichita State out of a stalled possession with a guarded make on a wing three-pointer to tie the game with 1:38 to go. When neither team scored down the stretch, it was Mike again that came up with the timely basket when she won a loose ball under the basket and scored to put WSU ahead 63-62 with 46 seconds left in overtime.

Loyola had two runners in the lane that missed and then a final chance for a tie that was thwarted by Jaleesa Chapel to preserve the win and send WSU’s bench into hysterics.

“That’s what I’ve been recruited to do,” Chapel said. “To accomplish my job, that feels really good to get that last touch and get the stop. Defense is my bread and butter.”

There’s not much Wichita State can do to escape the play-in round at the conference tournament, but what it did Sunday was make its future higher-seeded opponents a little more nervous to play WSU in March.

“We’ve had the target on our back for so long, but there’s something about being the underdog,” Adams said. “You can sneak up on people sometimes. When your young, it just takes momentum at the right time and confidence. When you get a young team pretty fiery, then they’re the scariest team to play in a tournament.”

“We’ve had a challenging week, with a couple of tough losses,” Lollar said. “Hopefully this is the kind of game that can make us go in the right direction.”

This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Wichita State tops Loyola in overtime."