The outcome—a 69-33 exhibition win over visiting Central Oklahoma on Sunday—wasn’t the issue. 

Wichita State women’s basketball coach Jody Adams was unhappy with her team’s effort and execution.

“I’m not very happy with our offensive execution in the half court,” Adams said. “There are some things Central Oklahoma did to expose us.” 

WSU’s 36-point win was impressive on the scoreboard and on the defensive side. The Shockers held the Bronchos to 9 halftime points and 28.6 percent shooting for the game. 

UCU had 36 turnovers, more than its point total for the game.

But WSU had 24 turnovers of its own, 17 of them coming from starters Alex Harden, Jasmine Jones and Chynna Turner. 

“I think some of our players are playing catch up right now,” Adams said. “We got to get back to practice and we got to work on being in those situations every day.”

Despite struggling to execute on offense, the defense was stifling in the first half. UCO’s final field goal of the half came with 9:01 to play. Whitney Dunn’s layup in the second half ended a nearly 13-minute run without a field goal for the Bronchos.

UCO, a Division II school, was the second of two exhibition games for the Shockers. The first was an 88-47 win over Harding University last week. 

WSU begins its regular season on Sunday with a trip to LSU, a team receiving votes in the top-25 polls to begin the season. 

LSU is part of a brutal non-conference schedule for WSU, one that also includes Kansas State and Missouri. 

“With our non-conference schedule, the way it is, it’s going to expose a lot. You know you’re not only bettering players’ skill sets, but you are also bettering players’ mindset,” Adams said. 

The Shockers were picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference this year and expectations are as high as they have ever been. 

While the struggles against UCO give Adams much concern, she also knows it’s just part of the learning process that will hopefully get the team where it wants to go. 

“Just because I’m unhappy with this performance doesn’t mean I’m unhappy with this team and the direction that we are going,” Adams said. “We just have to have a coachable team. I think they understand what it takes.”