Southeast women's basketball team faces Wichita State

The Wichita State women's basketball team may have just picked up its first win of the season in five tries Sunday, but Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Rekha Patterson definitely is not writing off the Shockers when her team faces them at noon today at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

The Shockers won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles the past three seasons, and advanced to the NCAA tournament. They set the school record for wins last season, finishing 29-5, and were undefeated in 16 home games.

WSU returns five players from that team, but it's coach Jody Adams, in her eighth season at the helm, that has Patterson convinced that it won't be an easy task for the Redhawks to snap their three-game losing streak.

"They still have a really good coach that played for Pat Summitt [at Tennessee] and who has rebuilt programs, and she knows how to win and she knows how to get her players ready," Patterson said.

WSU defeated Florida International 76-62 on Sunday to improve to 1-4 on the season. The Shockers' losses were to Creighton, Missouri, Arkansas State and Richmond.

Only six Shockers played against FIU, and the same number is expected to dress out against Southeast due to injuries and transfer rules.

WSU set season highs in scoring (76 points), field-goal percentage (60.0), 3-point FG percentage (43.8), assists (13) and steals (11) vs. FIU.

The Shockers knocked down seven 3-pointers. They've hit 28 triples on the season.

"I know that if they get hot it could be a really, really long night," Patterson said. "I know they are athletic. I know they haven't shot the ball well prior to that last game where they had two kids with 20-plus points, so they're going to be hungry. They're going to rebound, they're going to crash, they're going to play with great passion and energy. They want to get on a winning streak."

Junior college transfer TaQuandra Mike, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored a season-high 28 points against FIU. She's averaging 10.2 ppg and is shooting 52.9 percent from beyond the arc. She hit four 3s in each of WSU's last two contests.

Freshman Jyar Francis, a 6-1 forward, had 21 points and seven rebounds Sunday. She's averaging 12.6 points and 5.2 rebounds to start her WSU career. She's knocked down six 3-pointers for a 42.9 percent clip. She's shooting 48.9 percent from the floor

"It's funny because they're an athletic team and they are quick, but a lot of times they will shoot the 3," Patterson said. "Then you've got post players who will dive and try to score that way. It's going to be a little different than what we've necessarily seen before, which I think is good for us. But I think we can play our normal defense -- got to communicate, got to pressure the ball, got to have active hands, got to have help side, and we've got to definitely rebound the ball no matter what."

Southeast (4-4) will play its fifth game on a six-game road swing. The Redhawks have lost their last three to Idaho State (65-64), UC Riverside (85-67) and undefeated Missouri (74-32).

Mizzou's height caused matchup problems for the Redhawks, and while the Shockers have a handful of tall players, the matchup is better for Southeast.

The Redhawks scored just two points during the third quarter of its game at Mizzou on Wednesday, part of stretch -- midway through the second quarter until 12 seconds into the fourth -- in which they went 15 minutes, 14 seconds without a field goal.

Southeast shot a season-low 20.3 percent from the floor and made 2 of 13 3-point attempts.

"I think we're doing OK. We have to realize the teams that we did just play," Patterson said. "Heartbreaking loss to Idaho State, and then you go play a really good UC Riverside team, who was picked to finish second in their conference and has a good chance of going to the NCAA tournament, and then you play Mizzou, who Robin [Pingeton] is in her eighth year and they're healthy and they're big and they're playing with great confidence.

"If you take a step back and not necessarily just look at the loss, we just played two really good programs that are at a different spot in their rebuilding than we are. But I think there are things we can learn from all of the games. Obviously rebounding, taking care of the ball, but I'm proud of the way that our young ladies have fought, even when we hit adversity. They're learning that they are tough and they don't quit and they stick together."