Wichita State (3-7) at Tennessee Tech (3-8)
Time/Date: 6 p.m., Dec. 22, 2015

Quickly...Wichita State (3-7) travels to Cookeville, Tenn., to face Tennessee Tech in the the Shockers' last game before the Christmas holiday. 
-The Shockers are coming off two wins in the Papa John's Winter Classic Friday and Saturday. WSU defeated Priarie View A&M (64-36) and North Carolina A&T State (55-53). 
-After playing just one home game in November, WSU plays just one game on the road in December, Tuesday, at Tennessee Tech. Six of the Shockers' seven games in December are at home, while four of five November games were away from Wichita.
-WSU is led in scoring by Rangie Bessard, who averages 16.3 points a game in the four games she has played in 2015-16. 
-WSU was led in scoring by freshman Jyar Francis, who averages 12.7 points a game off the bench, but missed the last four games with a concussion. The next-leading scorer is TaQuandra Mike, who averages 11.8 points a game.
-Bessard is also the team's leading rebounder at 7.5 a game.
-The Shockers returned five players from last year's NCAA Tournament team, including three who came off the bench for WSU. Junior guard Jaleesa Chapel returned with the most experience, having played in 63 games with two starts the previous two years, and Aundra Stovall and Brittany Martin also played a year ago. 
-Eight Shockers will suit up against the Golden Eagles. Freshman Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage has not been released to play after knee surgery prior to her arrival at WSU, Francis is out with a concussion and junior Brittany Martin is also out with injury. Marija Pacar recently returned after a concussion, while the Shockers added a non-scholarship player, Hannah Mortimer, a 5-4 transfer guard from Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kan.
-WSU wraps up 2015 with its second of two exhibitons Dec. 29 against Oklahoma Christian in Wichita.
-The Shockers open Valley play Jan. 1 at Indiana State.
 
Bessard Named MVC Newcomer of the Week... Sophomore forward Rangie Bessard averaged 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in Wichita State's three games last week, while shooting 46 percent (23-of-50) from the field. Her effort included All-Tournament Team honors after she averaged 20.0 points and 9.0 boards in the Shockers' two-game Winter Classic. She shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) in the tournament and also had five assists, two steals and one block.

Immediate Impact... Rangie Bessard made her WSU debut against Tennessee after sitting out the last two semesters, and made an immediate impact with nine points, three rebounds, five steals, two blocks and an assist in 35 minutes. Her impact includes averaging 16.3 points a game in the four games she had played, while she has shot 45 percent (26-58) from the field.

WSU Series Stuff... WSU meets Tennessee Tech in women's basketball for the first time.

On Tennessee Tech... Tennessee Tech (3-8) is led in scoring by Samaria Howard who averages 18.4 points. The Golden Eagles are led in rebounding by Alliyah Smith's 7.4 rebounds. TTU is on a three-game losing streak with losses to Clemson and Louisville before a loss at Middle Tennessee State. The Golden Eagles had lost six of its las seven games.

In-Season Tournaments... Overall, WSU is now 69-80 in the 65 in-season tournaments the Shockers have played since 1974-75. In 1981-82, the Shockers played in five in-season tournaments and went 6-6. Overall, WSU has won 12 in-season tournaments.
Coach Adams is 16-9 in in-season tournaments since coming to WSU, and has won four in-season tournament titles. In 2015-16, WSU went 1-1 at the FIU Turkey Slam and 2-0 in the Papa John's Winter Classic.
 
On Jody Adams... Adams (Tennessee, '94) is in her eighth season at Wichita State as the only Shocker women's basketball coach to make an NCAA appearance and win an MVC regular-season and MVC Tournament championship at WSU. Her 2012-13 team accomplished all of that, then the 2013-14 and 2014-15 teams repeated the exact same feat. WSU has won three-straight MVC regular-season and MVC Tournament titles and competing in three-straight NCAA Tournaments. 
At 29-5 overall, the 2014-15 team broke the school's season win record by three games.
She is 149-87 in her eighth season at WSU and 173-97 overall in her ninth season as a head coach, which includes a 24-8 record as head coach at Murray State in 2007-08.
In addition, WSU is 90-27 (.785) overall at home under Adams, including 16-0 in 2014-15.
Adams is first on the WSU all-time wins list. She passed Linda Hargrove, who won 113 games at WSU from 1989-98, on Fri., Feb. 21, 2014 in a win against Illinois State.

Third Newcomer of the Week... Wichita State sophomore transfer Diamond Lockhart was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for Dec. . She was the third Shocker this season to be honored with the weekly award.
   Lockhart, a 5-foot-5 guard from Red Oak, Texas, led the Shockers in their lone game last week, tallying a career-high 21 points on 8-of-14 (57-percent) shooting against Southeast Missouri. Lockhart also had two assists and four rebounds while she also made 50 percent (3-of-6) of her three-point attempts.

Top-10 Attendance...Wichita State's annual "Schoolhouse Rocks with the Shocks" game Dec. 4, brought in 8,474 local elementary kids and was the ninth-largest crowd in Wichita State women's basketball history. The school record for attendance is 10,612, set on Feb. 25, 2001, in a game against Missouri State.

Mix and Match...Wichita State has suited up just six players at times this season, meaning a lot of minutes played for several Shockers. Junior guard Jaleesa Chapel led the nation in minutes played per game, averaging 39.1 minutes. Sophomores Aundra Stovall (37.2 minutes/game) and Diamond Lockhart (36.0 minutes/ game) also rank in the top five in the league in minutes played. The Shocker roster is slim right now since freshman Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage has not been released to play after knee surgery prior to her arrival at Wichita State. Freshman Jyar Francis missed four games, and junior Brittany Martin missed the last six games with injuries.

Last Time Out...Despite a fourth quarter comeback by the Aggies, the Shockers fought hard to the end to defeat North Carolina A&T State, 55-53 Saturday night in the final game of the Papa John's Shocker Winter Classic at Charles Koch Arena.

The Shockers continued their great shooting on the weekend, shooting 50% from the field and 38.5% from the three-point line and held the Aggies to 39.6% from the field. The Shockers also outrebounded the Aggies, 28-25.

Wichita State were led by TaQuandra Mike, scoring 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Mike also had four steals for the Shockers. Rangie Bessardalso scored in double figures, scoring 16 points on 12 shots.

The Aggies were led by Christina Carter, scoring 16 points and also grabbing four rebounds. Dana Brown was the only other Aggie scoring in double figures with 11.

Against Prairie View A&M... Behind a big defensive performance and a scoring outburst by Rangie Bessard, the Shockers defeated the Prairie View A&M Panthers, 64-36 on the first day of the Papa John's Shocker Winter Classic at Charles Koch Arena.

Wichita State shot the ball extremely well from beginning to end as the team shot 50 percent from the field while the defense held Prairie View A&M to only 25 percent. The

Shockers also had 16 assists on their 26 field goals while the Panthers only had four assists.

Bessard led the Shockers, scoring a Wichita State career-high 24 points and also grabbing a WSU career-high 10 rebounds. Both Marija Pacar and TaQuandra Mike also scored in double figures for the Shockers, adding 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Panthers were led by Lamaria Cole with 14 points, while Larissa Scott also had a team-high eight rebounds.

Against Tennessee..Wichita State fell to the No. 15/16 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, 58-51, Friday night at Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers out-shot the Lady Volunteers, shooting 39.6 percent from the field, while Tennessee shot 38.9 percent. The Shockers were outrebounded, 37-29, but had 13 steals while Tennessee had just nine. Wichita State was led by both TaQuandra Mike and Diamond Lockhart who both had 11 points. Both Mike and Jaleesa Chapel also contributed six rebounds. Tennessee was led by Bashaara Graves who had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Andraya Carter also contributed 14 points, going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Early Season Game Quickies... WSU topped the tournament host in a 76-62 win against Florida International in the FIU Turkey Slam. Taquandra Mike scored a game-high 28 points, and was named to the All-Tournament Team. 
-The Shockers lost, 63-50, two days earlier against undefeated Richmond to fall into the consolation game.
-Prior to the tournament, the Shockers lost, 67-40, at Arkansas State, and also dropped their home-opener Nov. 18, a 57-37 loss against Missouri. WSU also opened the season with a 79-54 loss at Creighton Nov. 13.

Mike Named MVC N-O-W... Wichita State junior transfer TaQuandra Mike was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week Nov. 30.
   Mike scored a Shocker career-high 28 points in the final game of the FIU Turkey Slam to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team. She led the Shockers in scoring in the two games with 14 points against Richmond and 28 against Florida International to average 21.0 points on 58.3 percent shooting (14-of-24).
   Mike also made 8-of-16 three pointers for a 50-percent effort from beyond the arc. She also added six free throws and averaged 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals in the two games.

Boards and Blocks… Brittany Martin took over the rebounding lead prior to her injury with 11 rebounds at Arkansas State and currently averages 6.0 a game, while she had 10 blocks in the first three games before her injury to average 3.3 a game. A year ago she had 25 blocks in 30 games off the bench. 

MU Breaks WSU's 17-Game Home win Streak...Prior to the Missouri loss, the Shockers had won 17-straight regular-season home games dating to a loss Feb. 23, 2014 to Indiana State in 2013-14. The Shockers won all 16 regular-season home games in 2014-15 and went 14-2 in 2013-14 for a two-year home record of 30-2. WSU's other loss in 2013-14 was to St. Joseph's in overtime.

Francis MVC NOW... Jyar Francis, who was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week the first week of the season, had a team-leading 15 points and eight rebounds in the loss at Creighton and also led WSU in scoring in the Shockers' first exhibition. She shot 50 percent from the field (5-10) and made 4-of-9 free throws against Missouri, and also had an assist and a steal in her first regular-season game as a Shocker. WSU won its first of two exhibitions, 68-61, on Nov. 8 and were also led by Francis' 21 points. 

Shockers Picked Fifth...The Shockers were picked fifth in the MVC Preseason vote of coaches, SIDs, Radio play-by-play and beat writers. Missouri State was picked as the favorite, and the Lady Bears are coming off another successful season, advancing to the 2014-15 MVC Tournament championship as they closed out last season winners of 10 of their final 12 games, and received 22 of 40 first-place votes and 373 total points, out-distancing Drake (347), UNI (320) and Southern Illinois (297). It is the Shockers' lowest position in the preseason poll since 2010-11 when the Shockers were also picked fifth. Despite winning the league, the league tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons, WSU has only been the favorite once, in 2014-15, in the 32 years of the poll. The Shockers were chosen second in 2012-13 and 2013-14 and came away with the title at the end of loop play.

On the Web... Wichita State's home games this season will be broadcast on the internet at www.goshockers.com/watch/ with Steve Strain, who is in his second season calling the action for the Shockers. Steve is a veteran of radio and television, called women's basketball for the Texas Tech Lady Raiders from 2009-13. Strain will also call road games on KNSS 1330. WSu is also on ESPN3 in all home games with Chris Solwecki and Denning Gerig calling the action.

On the Central Oklahoma Exhibition... Wichita State defeated Central Oklahoma in their first exhibition game of the season, 68-61.
     The Shockers were led by freshman Jyar Francis who finished the game with team-highs in points at 21 and rebounds with six. Sophomore Diamond Lockhart also contributed 20 points.

Titles and Championships...Wichita State, which had a school-record 29-4 in 2014-15, earned its third NCAA Tournament bid in school history with an 85-71 win over Missouri State in the championship game of the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo. The NCAA Tournament appearances was Wichita State's third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance to go with three-straight MVC Tournament titles and three-straight MVC regular-season titles. 

Home Court Advantage...Wichita State is 19-4 over the last 23 games and won 17-straight regular-season home games dating to a loss Feb. 23, 2014 to Indiana State in 2013-14. The Shockers won all 16 regular-season home games in 2014-15 and went 14-2 in 2013-14 for a two-year home record of 30-2. WSU's other loss in 2013-14 was to St. Joseph's in overtime.

First Time in Four Years... For the first time in four years, WSU will be without All-everything Alex Harden. Harden, who completed her career as WSU's career-leading scorer and honors as an Honorable Mention All-American, was drafted as the 18th overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2015 WNBA draft. She ended her career as the most decorated Shocker women's basketball player in history.

NCAA Tournament History...WSU is 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament, each under Jody Adams, who brought the Shockers their only tournament appearances. She had one appearance in her only year at Murry State and carries a 0-4 NCAA record. WSU lost at Texas A&M, 71-45, in 2013, at Penn State, 62-56, and 78-66, at Cal a year ago in NCAA Tournament play.

MVC Title History...The Shockers, which finished the regular-season with a record of 26-4, including a 17-1 mark in league play, clinched its third-staight Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball regular-season title in program history. WSU closed out the regular season on a nine-game winning streak and broke a regular-season win record, MVC regular-season win record, and tied an overall win record. WSU secured a piece of its third-straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship with a 66-54 win against UNI, then earned the out-right title with a 77-63 win at Evansville. 

20-Win Progression Under Adams ...  Wichita State ended up with a 29-4 overall record in 2014-15, which was the most wins in a season (29) and most wins in a regular season (26). The 2013-14 team had 26 wins and seven losses including postseason. The Shockers won just nine games a season prior to Adams' arrival, and 13 her first season in 2008-09, while the 2013-14 team lost just seven games, only the second season in Shocker history the team had single-digit losses. Wichita State has won 20 games or more for four-straight seasons and at least 26 games for two-straight. WSU has won 20 games six times overall since 1974-75.

Three ... Wichita State clinched a piece of its third regular-season title with wins against Drake and UNI in 2014-15, and claimed it outright at Evansville. WSU had no MVC regular-season or tournament titles or NCAA Tournament appearances prior to Jody Adams' arrival at WSU.

16-0 at Home in 2014-15... WSU completed the regular-season at home undefeated for only the second time in history with a 16-0 record. WSU's other undefeated record at home was 11-0 in 1999-00, while the Shockers have just one, one-loss home record, and that was 8-1 in 1975-76. At 16-0 in 2014-15, WSU had the most home wins in a season by two wins as the 2013-14 team had 14 wins, but two losses.