WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State hits the pavement for the first time in the 2016-17 campaign with a road test Sunday evening at 5 p.m. in Arlington, Texas, vs. the Mavericks of UT-Arlington.
Quickly
-The Shockers are coming off a 56-54 loss to UMKC at home Wednesday that dropped WSU to 1-1.
-UMKC scored with one second remaining to hand Wichita State a 56-54 loss on Tuesday night inside Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers came back from as much as 14 in the fourth quarter to tie it with 54 seconds left but UMKC's Kiana Law scored a contested layup – her only basket on the night - with four seconds left to clinch the victory for the Kangaroos. WSU was led in scoring by
Rangie Bessard's 20 points while freshman
Kayla Williams backed her with 17 point
-WSU won its season-opener a week ago Sunday with a 62-54 win against Creighton, which was picked to win the Big East Conference. The Shockers also won their two exhibitions in the preseason, a 58-49 win against cross-town opponent Newman University and a 67-65 win against Cameron.
-After two games, the Shockers are led in scoring by junior Bessard (18.5) and Williams (10.0). Bessard also leads WSU on the boards with 6.0 a game. She had 17 and 20 points, respectively, in the first two games.
-Wichita State took control early and held on to a lead that was as much as 22 to defeat Creighton, 62-54, Sunday afternoon in front of a Charles Koch Arena crowd of 2,003 fans. The Shockers were led in scoring by Bessard's 17 points while CU's Brianna Rollerson picked up a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards. For the game, WSU out-shot the Bluejays, 46.9 percent to 33 percent.
-WSU is in its 43rd modern season of women's basketball that started in 1974-75. WSU is 557-631 in the 43 years.
-In the second exhibition,
Diamond Lockhart drove the court off a Bessard rebound to score the game-winner and give the Shockers a 67-65 win against Cameron on Nov. 6. Bessard led WSU with 17 points, while
Keke Thompson,
Angiee Tompkins and Lockhart backed her with 14 points, 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Bessard had 13 rebounds for the double-double.
-In the first exhibition, Bessard led WSU with 19 points and nine boards in the Newman win, while Lockhart matched her on the glass with nine boards of her own. Thirteen Shockers played in the game, including all five newcomers. Junior college transfers
Tamara Lee, Thompson and Tompkins got their first Shocker starts, while
Jeliah Preston and Williams came off the bench in their first time in a Shocker uniform. Returnees
TaQuandra Mike and
Jyar Francis did not play due to injury. Thirteen Shockers played in the game, including all five newcomers. Junior college transfers Lee, Thompson and Tompkins got their first Shocker starts, while Preston and Williams came off the bench in their first time in a Shocker uniform. Returnees Mike and Francis did not play due to injury.
-The Shockers return all five starters from last year's squad, and 11 players overall. With five newcomers, the Shockers carry 16 players on the roster.
-Senior guard
Jaleesa Chapel returns with the most experience, having played in 93 games with 31 starts the last three years, but a knee injury has ended her season.
-WSU welcomed five newcomers to the Shocker program, including four junior college transfers and one freshman.
-The Shockers were picked fifth in the MVC Preseason vote of coaches, SIDs, Radio play-by-play and beat writers for the second-straight year. The two fifth-place picks are the Shockers' lowest position in the preseason poll since 2010-11 when the Shockers were also picked fifth. WSU has only been the favorite once, in 2014-15, in the 33 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 Mavs
UTA is coming off a 71-68 win at Western Kentucky on the back of four Lady Mavs that finished with double-digit scoring. Christina Devers, for the second consecutive game, led the team as she put in 15. Johnson and Rebekah VanDijk each finished with 14, while Breck Clark added 10, including two big 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter.
UTA improved to 2-0, which includes a 75-54 win against Texas-San Antonio to open the season in Arlington.
UTA is led in scoring by Christina Devers, who averages 18 points a game, while Cierra Johnson leds the lead on the glass with 7.5 boards a game.
UT Arlington women's basketball entered the 2016-17 season after a 15-16 record and a first- round exit from the Sun Belt Championship for the second consecutive season. Two-time second-team All-Conference center Rebekah VanDijk led the Lady Mavs with 12.2 ppg and 8.9 rebounds a year ago.
Cierra Johnson, also a second-team selection, returned after finishing 14th in NCAA Division I and leading the conference with 2.92 steals per game. Johnson also led the team in assists per game at 3.4.
Head Coach Krista Gerlich is in her fifth year at UTA and carries a 38-64 record for the school.
On the Series
Wichita State won the last meeting, a 71-61 decision Nov. 22, 2014 in Wichita. Overall, WSU leads 3-1 in the series that was first played in 1992 with a game the Shockers lost, 68-61 in the final of the UTA Classic, Dec. 5.
Fall Signee
Wichita State women's basketball signed student-athlete Lauren Brocke to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Jody Adams-Birch announced Nov. 10.
Brocke, a 6-foot-2 wing from Boise, Idaho, is ranked 19th at her position by ESPN and is labeled a three-star recruit. She helped Centennial High School to a 21-4 record a year ago and a state runner-up finish.
As a junior, she averaged 8.8 points and 5.0 rebounds a game and shot 52 percent from the field.
Newcomers Add Plenty of Experience
Led by the Juco All-American Tompkins, the bevy of newcomers start their WSU careers with backgrounds as proven winners: Thompson helped Shelton State CC to a 63-5 record in two seasons. Preston helped Blinn CC to a 26-9 record and a NJCAA Regional title. Lee was a first-team All-Jayhawk Conference first-team honoree and helped Edmond Santa Fe to a 108-4 record as a prepster. Williams comes to WSU from Overton High in Memphis, Tenn., where she helped her team to a 102-16 high school record.
Adams-Birch
Adams-Birch (Tennessee, '94) is in her ninth 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 won three-straight MVC regular-season and MVC Tournament titles while making three-straight NCAA Tournaments.
She is 156-106 in eight seasons at WSU and 171-113 overall in nine seasons as a head coach, which includes a 24-8 record as head coach at Murray State in 2007-08.
The 2014-15 team broke the school's season win record by three games at 29-5.
In addition, WSU is 89-24 (.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.
On the Web
Wichita State's home games this season will be broadcast on the internet at
www.goshockers.com/listen with Steve Strain, who is in his third season calling the action for the Shockers. Steve, who 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.
Shocker Honors
Wichita State's returnees earned honors in 2015-16, led by Bessard, who was named to the 2016 MVC Honorable Mention Team and Newcomer of the Year after earning three Newcomer of the Week Honors during the regular season.
In addition, Bessard and Lockhart were named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team.
Earlier this year Lockhart was also honored with the Valley's State Farm Good Neighbor Award.
Other honors in 2015-16 included:
-Mike, Francis and Lockhart as MVC Newcomers of the week once each.
-Mike and Bessard were named to the Winter Classic All-Tournament Team and Mike was named to the FIU Turkey Slam All-Tournament Team.
Shockers Picked Fifth in Valley
Wichita State's women's basketball team was picked fifth in the 2016-17 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, and Bessard was named to the Preseason Team, it was announced Oct. 25.
Wichita State is the only league team to return all five starters to the floor this season after finishing the 2015-16 campaign 8-22 overall and 5-13 in MVC action. The Shockers did not have a senior on last year's team and will look to ride that experience back up the league standings this winter after winning three-straight titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Bessard earned honorable mention all-MVC honors in 2015-16, and was also named the conference's 2016 Newcomer of the Year.
Bessard led the Shockers during the season, averaging 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Mike also averaged double figures for Wichita State a year ago, averaging 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per outing. Lockhart (7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists), senior guard Chapel (4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds) and junior guard
Aundra Stovall (4.2 points) also return to the backcourt for the Shockers after starting in the majority of the contests a year ago.
Drake has been tabbed as the preseason favorite in the MVC's women's basketball race in the annual survey of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media.
MVC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
| School (First-Place Votes) |
Total |
| 1. Drake (34) |
392 |
| 2. UNI (4) |
317 |
| 3. Missouri State (2) |
313 |
| 4. SIU |
306 |
| 5. Wichita State |
248 |
| 6. Indiana State |
199 |
| 7. Bradley |
141 |
| 8. Illinois State |
123 |
| 9. Evansville |
109 |
| 10. Loyola |
52 |
2015-16 MVC Preseason Team
Rangie Bessard, WSU
Caitlin Ingle, Drake
Rishonda Napier, SIU
Madison Weekly, UNI
Lizzy Wendell, Drake (Pre-Season POY)
