SE: Communication Keys Defensive Improvement for K-State WBB

By Corbin McGuire

The moments of confusion, of hesitation, of quiet, they're occurring less often for K-State women's basketball. As a result, scoring is becoming more and more difficult for the Wildcats' opponents.

K-State held its last three opponents — No. 24 Oklahoma State, No. 12 West Virginia and No. 8 Texas — to an average of 17.8 points below their respective scoring average coming into their game against the Wildcats. Those three opponents also combined to shoot a frigid 23.9 percent (16-of-67) from 3-point range against K-State.

The Wildcats' defensive progress, according to sophomore forward Peyton Williams, started with a commitment to communication.

"We're learning that playing hard means talking and opening your mouth, being engaged on not just playing physically but also mentally, and speaking is part of that. I think as we progress we are learning to move and talk outside of ourselves. That has been helpful the past couple of games," she said. "I remember in the OSU game we had some confusion several times, like who's taking whose man and there was a player open constantly on transition (defense). That's been happening less and less because we're just talking and playing better in that regard."

Despite some confusion, K-State limited Oklahoma State to a season-low shooting percentage (.365) while also forcing 17 turnovers, a season-high for the Cowgirls.

The Wildcats followed that with its best defensive performance. They held West Virginia to a season-low 52 points en route to the Wildcats' first ever win in Morgantown.

K-State's zone defense, rooted in players talking to one another, most recently allowed a versatile Texas squad to put up only 75 points, which tied for its season-low scoring total. The Longhorns started the game 2-for-10 from the floor and finished with 18 turnovers.

"(Communication) is very important in a zone, especially when you have a lot of cutters through the back side," Williams said, pointing out the challenge presented to K-State's two freshmen centers, Mary Lakes and Ashley Ray. "When they come in, they have to talk a lot because the guards are playing blind up top, essentially, with the cutters. So communication is pivotal for a zone defense. We've learned that, and sometimes the hard way."

During the winter break, K-State's coaching staff has made a concerted effort to improve the Wildcats' communication. Some of that, K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said, has meant simplifying certain parts of the game.

"If you're not communicating at either end of the floor, you're really not playing as hard as you're capable of and you're really not helping your teammates play very well," Mittie said. "We've tried to change some rules for them to simplify that."

Part of the Wildcats' biggest hurdle, in terms of communication, has been a lack of confidence that stems from inexperience. Currently, K-State has only three players on its roster who have played more than one year in its system.

"As a veteran you have the confidence to speak up. You have the confidence to say, 'I'm taking the ball or I'm rotating here.' As a young player, you're, like, 'Should I take the ball? Should I do this?'" said Mittie, whose message has been the following: "Make a decision. Live with the result. Everybody can play around that.

"It is an adjustment as a coach, not in terms of holding them accountable to the standard, but knowing that the timeline of this may not match up. So our job is, how do we simplify things? How do we get them to play as fast as they can? How do we simplify some of the things that we're doing so they can confidently understand it?"

Coming off the toughest four-game stretch to open Big 12 play in the conference's history, in terms of the opponents' average rank, Mittie said the improvement must continue because nothing will come easy in this league.

"Every night in the Big 12 has its own challenges," he said, as K-State (9-6, 1-3) plays at Iowa State (7-8, 1-3) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., and hosts (20/23) Oklahoma State on Saturday at 1 p.m. "So while this stretch was stacked with a lot of teams that had played well in the non-conference, we know the next 14 games are going to have challenges as well."

SE: Communication Keys Defensive Improvement for K-State WBB

Players Mentioned

Maary Lakes

Ashley Ray

Peyton Williams

Kansas State University Athletics