Wayne State upsets No. 15 NKU

“We’re tired of losing.”
Freshman Chelsea Davis’ words seemed like the perfect way to describe the approach that the Wayne State women’s basketball team took into its most recent game, a 62-57 victory over 15th-ranked Northern Kentucky on Nov. 28.
The Warriors had gotten off to a 0-3 start to the season and were faced with the task of hosting a Norse team that is 2-1 in national championship games this decade, with its most recent title appearance in 2008. They had been the complete opposite of Wayne State, getting off to a 3-0 start this season.
But the statement made by Davis describes the will behind the team. They put to rest any questions of doubt about if the Warriors were making any progress in their play by being the first to contribute to NKU’s loss column.
From the beginning, it was obvious that this season was going to be a work in progress. Having to integrate 10 new faces with the three returning players from last year’s team was not going to be an easy task. Unfortunately for WSU, that has held true.
The game against NKU showed that the team still has some major flaws to work through. Often, the offense grows stagnant and creates a lull. For a team that’s looking to develop rhythm and be able to play with speed, that timid kind of play is what often causes them to go into three or four minute scoring droughts. On the defensive end, Wayne State is still trying to figure out how to defend well close to the basket, something that’s difficult for them to simulate in practice since they lack a considerable amount of height.
What’s more important was the team showing signs of how to work through those deficiencies. With the offense having issues moving the ball and putting up points, WSU tightened up on defense a little more to buy it some time. Coach Gloria Bradley said that her team rotated on defense all over the court much better today than at any other point of this very young season.
The players may not have figured it all out yet, but it looks like they are working to do so. Brooke Bowers has been excellent so far for the team. She’s embraced her leadership role as the lone senior and has been coming up big during crunch time. Davis and fellow freshman Deanna Crumpton have shown signs of being more than formidable frontcourt compliments to their more experienced starting backcourt of Bowers, junior Chelsea Kouri and sophomore Felicia Thomas.
The depth of the team is not the question. It’s how they are used. It looks like the coaching staff still does not have a great grasp on a set rotation, but for good reason. It’s because, much unlike last year, they have options now. Last year’s team had eight players on the roster in the final game. This year, they have eight players on the bench ready to sub in. If anything, an over abundance of depth is a good problem to have.
By no means is this team a perfect picture, yet. They still have quite a bit of work left to do, but at least they are getting a good amount of experience. They’ve lost games by narrow margins (by one against Southern Indiana, by six against Missouri S&T) and by wide margins (by 30 to Arkansas Tech). True to Davis’ statement after the NKU game, they have a new experience to handle — winning.