2018-19 WBB Non-Conference Games

[1972Shocker]

A very good first 18-minutes for the Lady Shocks. A rather sloppy final 2 minute by the Shocks allowed La Tech to close a 17 point deficit to 12 at the half with Shocks leading 41-29.

Kind of surprised that HCKA left Sabrina in the game late in the 1st half and sure enough it cost her as Sabrina picked up her 2nd foul with 1:03 left in the half. Hopefully, that will not be an issue but Sabrina has been foul prone.

8 players have scored for the Shocks with 10 from Sabrina and 8 from Seraphine leading the way. Carla is 2-4 from behind the arc and Dawnyel continue her disruptive defense and turning that into 6 points.

Only 6 turnovers for the Shocks.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks have reverted to out-of-control, high turnover, one-on-one basketball and are in real trouble if they continue. The Shocks lead is down to 51-46 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

8 turnovers in the 3rd quarter. If they don't change their approach it is unlikely they can hold on to this one.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks have settled things down in the 4th quarter and have maintained their 5 point lead with 5:00 minutes to play. Running their offense and being patient so far.

Shocks finish strong and pull away for a very solid 70-56 win over a team that previously beat fellow AAC members Houston and Memphis.

Really nice job by HCKA to get her team settled down in the 4th quarter after they totally zoned out in the 3rd quarter.

Sabrina has a terrible series of plays allowing La Tech to close the score to 59-54 with around 4:00 minutes to play but after that Sabrina was very good and she led this team down the stretch.

Sabrina, Dawnyel, Carla and Raven with the best performances for the Shocks. This young Shocker team continues to play pretty well defensively.

Up next: Oklahoma State on Tuesday night in Koch Arena.

[ShockTalk]

This team seems to be playing above their years so far. Generally good D and a number of contributors. Future is looking brighter all the time.

[1972Shocker]

Sabrina certainly led by example tonight. 16 points, 16 rebounds, a team high 5 assists to 2 turnovers, 1 block, 2 steals and numerous deflected passes. Sabrina showed that you can put points on the board and still be a very unselfish player. Raven was a significant beneficiary of Sabrina's unselfish play tonight.

Carla is still not hitting shots at a real high rate but she has a knack for hitting big shots and her shooting just looks good. She was 3 of 9 from 3 but 3 of those misses were in and out. She also missed a shot as at the shot clock expiration from about 18 feet and caught the ball and shot the ball in one motion as it was the only way to beat the shot clock. She damn near made but what it did show was great awareness for a freshman.

I don't know if Dawnyel will ever make much from beyond 6 feet from the basket but she is lighting quick and she may not need to. if she figures out the value of penetrating and kicking the ball out to open teammates on the perimeter she will up her stock even more.

Progress is being made. I would say the Shockers played very good basketball for 28 minutes in this game or 70% of the total. I think that is pretty decent considering the youth of this team. But that should continue to move higher as this team continues to learn lessons.

[1972Shocker]

Sam Houston State won at Southern Miss today 65-61.

Houston Baptist provided Texas Tech a tough game in Lubbock losing 76-82.

[1972Shocker]

This team seems to be playing above their years so far. Generally good D and a number of contributors. Future is looking brighter all the time.

I would generally agree with that assessment. Coming into the season I was thinking the Shocks most likely would be sitting at 3-3 at this point instead of 5-1.

Still this team is still just cutting its teeth.

Seraphine and Carla are the most polished and disciplined of the freshman. Raven is making a nice contribution in her 1st year at the D-1 level after 2 years at BuCo JuCo and a redshirt year.

Dawnyel Lair has come a long way from sitting out the exhibition game to perhaps being the 1st guard off the bench. Her athleticism and defensive ability can be very disruptive. Her shooting looks like it needs a lot of work and she may never be much of a shooter but she sure likes she can be a terrific slasher and creator of atomic bombs. Still a bit of a wild child at times but the rough edges are showing signs of being smoothed out.

You can see signs that Jaida has the ability to be a very good player as well. She still tends to force things every now and then and her offensive efficiency will improve has her shot selection improves.

Jada Peacock really hustles and gets after on defense. She can knock down the occasional rainbow 3 although her shot is a bit unorthodox looking. I think Jada will prove to be one of those glue players during her Shocker career.

Shyia Smith clearly has some athletic ability as well but needs to play with much more discipline and control.

Trajata seems to be a bit of a project but one that has development potential.

[1972Shocker]

BTW, did anyone catch why junior guard Maya Brewer did not play against La Tech? I believe she was on the bench so I guess it was either injury, illness or coach's decision.

Maya is another player who definitely has the talent to play although she needs to play with more discipline and control like many of our newbies.

[shoxlax]

Seems like Ok St may be a winnable game on paper.

[flyingMoose]

Seems like Ok St may be a winnable game on paper.

Louisiana Tech lost to the Shockers on the road by 14.

Louisiana Tech beat Arkansas State on the road by 10.

Arkansas State lost by 2 to the Cowgirls on the road.

We still have to play the game however.

[WuDrWu]

When I was a kid they used "indirect wins" in tennis to help with rankings. My brother had a couple of indirect wins over Grand Slam Champions Pete Sampras and Michael Chang. Don't get me wrong, my brother was a heck of tennis player, even winning a national hardcourt doubles title, but he wasn't going to beat those two any time soon.

Houston 79 Rice 68. BYU 105 Rice 78 By looking at those scores, one would think Houston would have their hands full with BYU, certainly on the road.

At BYU Houston 76 BYU 62 Tough to use that thought process all the time.


I am impressed with the progress Coach Adams is making. Go Shocks!

[flyingMoose]

I was being facetious - maybe I should have used a smiley face. I would be very reluctant to draw grand conclusions based on the first few weeks of a season. But still ... :)

[1972Shocker]

Seems like Ok St may be a winnable game on paper.

Hard to get much of a read on Oklahoma State at this point. They are picked to finish 7th in the 10-team Big 12 this year so this is not expected to be one of their best teams. OSU is 4-0 but have not played an overly tough schedule. Their 4 victims have a combined record in D-1 games of 4-14. All 4 of their wins have been at home the closest being 62-60 win over Arkansas State. The other 3 wins were 20 point wins over UC Riverside, Prairie View A&M and Samford.

The Shockers are 5-1 against a schedule that has a combined record in D-1 games of 9-14.

Often what a P-5 team does present is more size than you typically see outside the P-5. Looks like 6-5 Jr. Mariam Gnanou, a Juco transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma, and 6-3 Kassidy De Lapp are sharing duties at the center position. Gnanou is averaging 7.3 PPG and 7.3 RPG in 18.3 MPG. De Lapp is averaging 4.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 17.0 MPG. De Lapp was ranked #98 as a high school recruit by ESPN.

OSU has 3 double digit scorers. 6-1 Sr. forward Vivian Gray averages 16.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 31.0 MPG. Gray is a ransfer from D-II Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. 5-10 So. guard Braxtin Miller is averaging 16.0 PPG and 4.5 RPG in 30.5 PPG. Gray and Miller are a combined 13-23 on 3 pointers fro 56.5%. Gray is 13-14 from the FT line for 92.9%. 6-2 Sr,. forward LaTashia Jones averages 10.5 PPG and 13.5 RPG in 29.0 MPG.
5-8 So. guard Jaden Hobbs chips in 6.3 PPG in 27.0 MPG. Hobbs is 5-12 on treys for 41.7%.

Overall OSU is shooting 40.1% from the field including 27-71 for 38% on treys. They shoot 70.4% from the line as a team.

The Shockers are shooting 45.9% from the field but only 22-76 for 28.9% from 3. The Shocks shoot 63.0% from the line.

OU is outrebounding opponents 46.3 to 33.0 on average. The Shockers are outrebounding opponents 39.0 to 31.7.

Would be nice if Maya Brewer is available for this one but not sure what her status is.

i believe HCKA played for OSU head coach Jim Littell during her 1st two years at Oxford High School and I believe they coached against each other when they headed up the programs and Independence CC and Seward County CC, respectively.

As will probably be the case in every game the Shocks play the Cowgirls will have the experience advantage. OSU is not overly experienced returning10 years of D-1 experience which includes 3 years from a senior who only plays 9.0 minutes a game.. The Shockers, not counting the injured Ces Ambrosio, have 4 years of D-1 experience. 3 for Sabrina and 1 for Alyssia.

I think this game may be winnable although I think the Shocks will be somewhat of an underdog and will have to play well to pull out a win.

Name brands remaining on the Shocker non-con schedule include this game, Creighton, Northwestern, and either Kansas or Washington State. It would be great if the Lady Shocks could win 2 of these 4 games. OSU is doable, Creighton is doable. Northwestern looks to be very good. I don't think we can beat Northwestern. My guess is that we will play Washington State on Day 2 in Las Vegas. Washington State just did edge out Washington in the PAC 12 preseason coaches' poll (19-18) for 1th place in the 12-team conference. So maybe Washington State might be doable. OTOH, the Lady Shocks could easily lose all 4 of these games.

As far as the other 3 games on the non-con schedule Tennessee Tech may be as good as or better than anyone we have played so far. Grambling State and Savannah State are games the Lady Shocks should win.

Looking forward to see how the young Shockers stack up to the Cowgirls on Tuesday.

Shocker Game Notes and Links

[1972Shocker]

La Tech Game Highlights

[1972Shocker]

Freshman Seraphine Bastin from Belgium who is doing a great job for the Lady Shocks at the point guard position was a guest on HCKA's radio show last night. Steve Strain asked her what was the biggest difference between Wichita and Belgium. I had a bit of a hard time hearing her answer but she mentioned several things including (I think) the food and the place.

Speaking of place here is photo of Serphine's home town of Dinant, Belgium:






My favorite response from Seraphine -- " I just want to be the best version of myself.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks fell at home to the Cowgirls 47-60. You're not going to win a lot of games scoring less than 50 points but we knew coming into the game that the young Shockers defense was ahead of their offense.

It looked to me like OSU's size (height and bulk) gave the Shocks a lot of problems a the refs called the game in a manner that let OSU use that advantage very effectively. OSU outrebounded the Shockers 43-24 including 20-9 on the offensive boards.

OSU's 5-10 sophomore guard, Braxtin Miller, went off on the Shocks for a career-high 30 points (14 above her average) as she hit an assortment of mid-range jumpers to go along with 3 treys and 7-8 from the free throw line.

OSU made 10-12 from the line but the Shocks were a really bad 4-13 (30.8%) from the line.

Dawnyel was outstanding again on defense lead the Shockers with 15 points mostly on break aways after steals and drives to the basket. However, Dawnyel was only 3-9 from the free throw line. Dawnyel also led the Shockers in rebounding with 6. If Dawnyel can ever develop a serviceable jump shot, even if just a mid-range shot, to add to her game and a serviceable free shot (she is at 42% on the season) she could be a big scorer. With her ability to get to the basket she is likely to be fouled quite a bit. At this point though her game is score on layups off defense or drives to the basket.

OSU blanketed Carla pretty well and wasn't overly concerned about anyone else shooting from the perimeter as they packed in their zone quite effectively.

Sabrina was in foul trouble again and was limited to 22 minutes which hurt but it wasn't the difference in the game.

Overall I thought the Shockers effort was very good and holding OSU to 60 points when one player went for 30 was quite good as well. The Shocks were down by 15 with 1:00 left in the 3rd quarter. The Shocks pulled to within 6 point with 7 minutes remaining in the game but back-to-back treys by OSU's Jaden Hobbs from the left corner pretty much sealed the deal. Need to shore up the rebounding but may not face many teams this year with the size of OSU. The offense has quite a ways to go yei.

I don't believe there was anything to be too discouraged about in this game. Probably a bit of an eye-opener for most of this young team.

Keitha Adams post-game remarks:

[1972Shocker]

UConn, as expected, is rolling again. The only team to give them a game so far was St. Johns who somehow managed to hold UConn to 65 points in a 10-point loss. Otherwise, UConn beat Ohio State by 32, Vandebilt by 38, Ole MIss by 40, Purdue by 46 and #16 DePaul by 33.

Clash of the Titans this Sunday when #2 UConn takes on #1 Notre Dame in South Bend at 3:00 pm CST on Sunday to be televised on ESPN.

For those who will be attending the Lady Shocks game on Sunday against Tennessee Tech at 2:00 pm CST you might want to set your DVR. Not sure if the game will be played on WatchESPN or not.

Tennessee Tech is picked to finish 7th in the 12 team Ohio Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles are 3-2 in D-I games with wins over Middle Tennessee (68-64), Western Carolona (77-58) and Charleston Southern (77-55) and with losses to Xavier (60-70) and Old Dominion (73-80).

Looks like Tennessee Tech typically goes 9 deep with 2 seniors, 2 juniors, 4 sophomores and 1 freshman. TTU has two 6-2 post players that appear to share playing time at the 5. The Shocks match up okay size-wise there. The next tallest players of their 9-player rotation are a 5-10 Fr. forward and a 5-11 So. guard. The Shocks may have a slight height advantage there with Raven, Shyia. The other 5 players expected to be in the rotation are all 5-7 guards. Again the Shocks should have an overall size advantage their as well as the Shocker's guard rotation Seraphine, Dawnyel and JadaP at 5-8, JaidaH at 5-10 and Carly and Maya at 5-11.

Looks like TTU has 2 pretty good free throw shooters in 5-7 So. guard Jordan Brock who is 19-48 (39.6%) and is leading TTU in scoring at 13.3 PPG and in Keisha Brady, another 5-7. So. guard who is 7-16 (43.8%) and is TTU's 2nd leading scorer at 11.8 PPG. The rest of the TTU team is 15-67 (22.4%) on 3-point attempts. TTU averages about 22 3-point attempts per game vs about 12 for the Shocks. So far this season that has not been a problem for he Shocks as Shocker opponents are a combined 37-154 (24.0%) from behind the arc. What the Shocks have not done a very good job of though is rebounding those long misses. Overall from the field the Shocks shoot 44.9% to TTU's 40.1%.

TTU is a good free throw shooting team at 74.8% and they get to the line quite a bit. 24.5 attempts per game to 17.3 attempts per game for the Shockers who are only hitting free throws at a 59.5% clip. On average TTU has an 8 point per game advantage over the Shocls from the free throw line.

TTU is averaging 14.8 assists per game vs 12.0 turnovers per game which is quite good. The Shocks are at 10 assists per game vs 19.6 turnovers.

TTU has been out-rebounded by an average of 1.8 rebounds per game. The Shockers have out-rebounded their opponents 3.6 per game but that is a bit misleading IMO. I think that advantage was built up against the Shocks's weaker opponents. Against Missouri State, South Dakota and Okie State the Shocks were out-rebounded by an average of 11 rebounds overall with much of that deficiency attributable to allowing way too many offensive rebounds. I would hope the Shocks would fare a little better against TTU as the Shocks being a little bit bigger overall than TTU although that doesn't always tell the tale.

So far the Shockers defense has been their strong suit and that will probably have to continue as a key to beating TTU. It should me much easier for the Shocks to get their shots off against this team than against Okie State. TTU is averaging 73.8 PPG vs 64.4 PPG for the Shocks. HCKA has said she would like to find about 10 more points per game from this team. Better free throw shooting and cutting down on the turnovers could go a long way achieving that goal.

Not sure I see anything that says this will be an easy game for the Shocks but it should be easier than Okie State so hopefully the Ladies didn't like the taste of losing at home.

Shocker Game Notes and Links

[flyingMoose]

I can usually watch ESPN on my iPad under the WatchESPN app.