The RoundHouse | 1/19/2020 6:31:00 PM
The play is called "home run" and
Keitha Adams borrowed it from former Iowa State and NBA coach Tim Floyd. The play requires a little deception, a little faith, a screen and somebody to go up and grab the basketball.
"She said 'Just throw it high, I'm going to get it,'" Wichita State guard
Mariah McCully said.
McCully had to take those words from teammate
Trajata Colbert on faith. Her view of the court, from near the Shocker bench, was blocked by a defender.
"I couldn't see," McCully said. "I trusted her. She made it easy."
McCully waited for Shocker guard
Carla Bremaud to cut to the corner, drawing attention from the defense.
Seraphine Bastin set a back-screen and Colbert came free in front of the basket. McCully lofted the pass with two hands. Colbert, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, caught the lob and banked in the winning shot. Bastin grabbed the ball after it came through the net and spiked it in celebration.
Wichita State 72, Temple 70.
"I just catch the ball and finish," Colbert said.
With that, the Shockers (11-7, 3-2 American Athletic Conference) won their third straight game, gained some payback for last season's two double-digit losses to Temple and showed again that they are learning how to close out games. Temple (11-7, 4-2) entered the game ranked No .52 in the RPI, making it Wichita State's best win since a November win over No. 27 Oklahoma.
The Shockers made 19 of 26 foul shots (73.1 percent), their fifth straight game shooting better than 70 percent. They also committed 10 turnovers to match a season low.
"It's big steps," Adams said. "Temple really dominated us last year at their place, big time."
With the game tied 70-all with 5.7 seconds to play, Adams considered other options. She called timeout and decided to go with "home run."
"We got in the first timeout and I started to draw up what I wanted to do." she said. "I wasn't feeling it. I called a second timeout and I just decided 'You know what, we're going to go for the high percentage and let's set a back screen and see if we can get a wide-open two-footer.'"
The Shockers, who trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter, needed a big defensive play to get in position to hit on "home run." McCully missed a shot with 20 seconds to play and the score tied. The Owls rushed up court and the Shockers scrambled on defense. Bastin watched Temple guard Ashley Jones headed toward the lane and took a charge.
"She was coming really fast and I could just tell I needed to take charge," Bastin said.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
