WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State returns to Charles Koch Arena Friday for a Noon CT matchup with Arkansas State.
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Quickly
-Local elementary and middle school students attend the game in what has become a popular event that exposes area youth to Shocker Basketball. Approximately 150 busses will bring 9,000 kids, teachers and paraprofessionals to campus. The kids will all receive a fun math packet with their attendance.
-Arkansas State is 0-5 with two seniors and seven true freshmen on the roster. ASU's starting five from a year ago all graduated.Head Coach Brian Boyer is in his 18th year at ASU and carries a 299-234 record. ASU's losses have come to Oklahoma State, Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Florida and Iowa State. Only the Florida game was at home.
-WSU lost, 67-40 at ASU a year ago Nov. 11. Jyar Francis, Brittany Martin and Jaleesa Chapel had eight points each to lead the Shockers. Martin also had a career-high 11 rebounds. The series is 3-3 overall.
-WSU is coming off a 1-2 Cancun Challenge where they learned a lot about themselves, dropping two games to Purdue and No. 11 Stanford before regrouping to defeat Northeastern, 87-73.
-After six games, the Shockers are led in scoring by junior Rangie Bessard (13.0) and freshman Kayla Williams (6.8). Bessard also leads WSU on the boards with 4.6 a game. She had 17, 20 and 16 points, respectively, in the first three games. Williams got her first career start at UTA and has started the last four games. Bessard was injured against Stanford and missed the Northeastern game.
All-Tournament Play... TaQuandra Mike was named to the Cancun Challenge All-Tournament team after leading the Shockers with 10.0 points a game for the week and a high of 17 points in leading the Shockers to a 87-73 win against Northeastern. She also had 11 points against No. 11 Stanford. For the week, she shot 46 percent (12-26) from the field.
Finding Her Shot...Jeliah Preston shot 47.4 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from the arc while averaging 8.3 points, 1.0 assists and 1.5 steals in Wichita State's three games in Cancun. The junior from Houston, Texas was most impressive from the three-point line where she was 7-of-11, which included five treys against Northeastern in the Shockers' win. She had a team-leading 17 points against the Huskies and eight points against Stanford.
That's More Like Mike... Taquandra Mike returned to form against Northeastern, scoring a team-leading 17 points in a 7-of-13 effort from the field in the game. For the week she shot 46.2 percent (12-26) from the field had eight boards, seven assists and four steals. A year ago, she was WSU's second-leading scorer at 12.5 points a game.
Holidays Mean Tournaments... WSU played its 66th in-season tournament in history when it traveled to Cancun last week and will play its 67th in-season tournament when its hosts the Winter Classic over the Christmas holiday in December. WSU is now 70-81 in the 66 in-season tournaments the Shockers have played since 1974-75. Coach Jody Adams-Birch is now 17-11 in in-season tournaments since coming to WSU, and has won four in-season tournament titles.
Newcomers Shining... Three of WSU's four top scorers for the week were newcomers to the Shocker program with Jeliah Preston (8.3), Tamara Lee (6.7) and Angiee Thompkins (6.3). Preston and Leet combined for 30 points in the Shockers' win against Northeastern with 17 and 13, respectively. Thompkins led WSU in rebounding in Cancun with 4.0 a game, as well.
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. Â Â Â
WSU won three-straight MVC regular-season and MVC Tournament titles while making three-straight NCAA Tournaments.Â
She is 157-108 in nine seasons at WSU and 17-115 overall in 10 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 89-25 (.785) overall at home under Adams-Birch, including 16-0 in 2014-15.
-Adams-Birch 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.
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. SIUÂ |
306 |
| 5. Wichita State |
248 |
| 6. Indiana State |
199 |
| 7. Bradley |
141 |
| 8. Illinois State |
123 |
| 9. Evansville |
109 |
| 10. Loyola |
52 Â Â Â |
2015-16 MVC Preseason Team
Rangie Bessard, WSU
Caitlin Ingle, Drake
Rishonda Napier, SIU
Madison Weekly, UNI
Lizzy Wendell, Drake (Pre-Season POY)
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