The RoundHouse | 10/3/2018 6:47:00 PM

 
Wichita State women's basketball coach Keitha Adams learns something new about her team almost every day. She is coaching a team with 10 newcomers and a total of nine freshmen.
 
It is tough to nail down the team scheduled for display in Saturday's Black & Yellow Scrimmage (2 p.m.) at Koch Arena (the Shocker men also scrimmage). Adams does like the flashes of defense she's seen in practices and that is a good place to start assessing the 2018-19 Shocker newcomers.
 
"Our athleticism is there to where I think we've got the ability to get up and defend and pressure people," she said. "Seraphine (Bastin) really likes to dig her nose in there and guard. She's got a bulldog mentality. Dawnyel (Lair) is very, very athletic. Jada (Peacock) is going to defend."
 
The Shockers will build around senior forward Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage. Senior guard Cesaria Ambrosio started 24 games last season, but a back injury has sidelined her the past eight weeks. She is scheduled to return within two weeks, Adams said. Other injuries, none season-ending, also inhibit practice plans.
 
"The month of October is really big for us," Adams said. "We've got to make gains, every day, where we're grasping and learning what it is that we're trying to do. Offensively, we need to play at a fast pace. We're going to need to move the ball; we're going to need to set a lot of screens."
 
Adams dealt with significant turnover often as a junior college coach. She lost seven seniors from her 2016 team at Texas-El Paso after winning a conference title. 
 
"We're in such a teaching mode," she said. "I'm trying to emphasize to them that the quicker we learn and pick up on things, then we can be adding things. You don't feel like you can be adding stuff if you're not retaining."
 
Wichita State's baseball team plays its second and final 14-inning scrimmage against NCAA Division I competition on Friday at Arkansas (6 p.m.). The Shockers played at Nebraska last month. 
 
It is a home football weekend for Arkansas (which plays No. 1 Alabama) and Shockers coach Todd Butler expects a crowd of 5,000 or more for the baseball scrimmage. NCAA rules, new this season, allow teams to scrimmage. It does not count against their spring limit of 56 games.

Several American Athletic Conference teams are taking advantage of the fall scrimmages. Tulane plays South Alabama and Southern Mississippi. Cincinnati faces Notre Dame and Xavier. South Florida plays Florida Gulf Coast and Florida. 
 
Wichita State's softball team scrimmages Seminole State (5 p.m. Friday) and Emporia State (1 p.m. Sunday) at Wilkins Stadium. The Shockers end fall practices on Oct. 12 with a scrimmage at Kansas.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.