The RoundHouse | 10/3/2017 8:45:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop

After almost two hours of practice, Wichita State's women's basketball players leaned against the wall, knees bent, waved their arms and yelled "hands up, hands up."
 
Defense, coach Keitha Adams told them, starts with getting in a good defensive stance and staying in that stance.
 
It was time for the Shockers to start learning how Adams wants to play defense. Wichita State opened its full practice schedule on Monday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena with a three-hour session.
 
Adams wanted to continue her emphasis on post passing – where she thinks the Shockers can start their scoring – introduce defense and learn how to play through fatigue.
 
"Pretty good energy," Adams said. "For the freshmen, it's 'Welcome to college.' What's really important is that tomorrow we look a whole lot better."
 
Practices, during the early fall, were limited to two one-hour sessions a week. Adams, who spent the previous 16 seasons at UTEP, largely focused on offense, in part to avoid injuries and keep legs fresh for later in the season. With the exhibition opener on Nov. 1 vs. Oklahoma Baptist, the tone and tempo of practice changed.
 
"It was really exciting to go more than an hour, just to see how everybody performs and how everybody thinks," Wichita State senior Rangie Bessard said. "How tough can you be mentally? Practice is made to get you tired and fatigued."
 
By the end, the Shockers were thrilled to see senior Diamond Lockhart make a free throw to end a series of baseline-to-baseline sprints after missed foul shots.
 
"I was like 'I don't want to run any more,'" Lockhart said.
 
"Diamond stepped up at the very end when everybody was really tired and hit a big free throw," Adams said. "We were running and missing free throw. She made the free throw. That's an example of some toughness."
 
The session started with a few Shockers shooting free throws while Adams welcomed others to the court. She introduced them to friend Connie Donatelli, who taught with her at Winfield High. The Shockers started practice holding hands in a circle. Adams told them to play like you practice and they chanted "1-2-3, Sisters" and got started.
 
An eight-minute drill on post passing came first. WSU's top returning scorers – Bessard and senior Angiee Tompkins – are post players. Their skills give Adams a starting point to build an offense.
 
Coaches told the players to build a wide base to get position in the lane, to win the battle with their feet. Perimeter players heard "fake a pass, make a pass" for their instructions on getting the ball to the bigs.
 
"We got in a lot of teaching and we have a lot to learn," Adams said. "We're going to have to have a lot of patience. It's not going to look like a well-oiled machine right off the bat."
 
The Shockers took a water break. Adams met former Shocker Keomi Johnson, who sat in the front row to watch practice.
 
Adams devoted the final hour to defense. To avoid injuries and keep legs fresh, she worked on shooting, passing and dribbling during the summer.
 
"Now it's time to get after it on defense, because that's what's going to win games," Bessard said. "We've got to make sure we move our feet and keep our hands away from (offense), but make sure we're still pressuring them."