Loyola Ramblers (12-11, 8-4) at Wichita State Shockers (5-18, 2-10)  Worth Noting... Wichita State (5-18, 2-10) plays host to Loyola Sunday afternoon in the seventh Missouri Valley Conference weekend of the season.

-WSU is coming off a 55-50 loss to Bradley on Friday night. TaQuandra Mike had a team-high 25 points to lead WSU. Loyola lost in overtime at Missouri State, 91-81.  

-WSU is still led in scoring by newcomer Rangie Bessard who averages 14.5 points a game while she also leads in rebounding with 8.1 a game.

-Last weekend, the Shockers dropped a 81-59 loss at league-leading Drake, and a 69-48 loss at UNI Sunday afternoon. Rangie Bessard and Diamond Lockhart had 15 points each in the Shockers' loss at Drake on Friday night. DU won the first three quarters, 25-13, 23-10 and 21-16 before the Shockers ended the game with a fourth-quarter 20-12 advantage. At UNI, Bessard had her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. 

-Prior to the loss at Drake, WSU had a three-game homestand where they went 2-1.  After defeating SIU and Evansville in Wichita, WSU dropped a 77-57 loss to Missouri State. WSU defeated SIU, 57-48, on Jan. 22, and Evansville, 58-50, on Jan. 24, for its first two Valley wins. Lockhart scored a game-high 19 points and was backed by Mike's 14 points against SIU, and Rangie Bessard had 26 points and seven boards in the win against Evansville.

-Bessard leads WSU in overall scoring with 14.5 points a game and also on the boards with 8.1 a game in the 17 games she has played in 2015-16 since becoming eligible after sitting out after transferring from Minnesota. Another transfer, TaQuandra Mike, averages a team-second 11.9 points a game and also leads the team in steals with 49 in 23 games. Lockhart is third with 8.2 points a game overall while she leads the team in assists with 62 in the 23 games.

-Bessard also leads the Shockers in MVC-Only scoring at 14.0 points a game while Mike is second in loop games with 12.6 a game. Lockhart is third in MVC-only games with 7.6 points a game and leads the squad with 28 assists in 12 MVC games.

-WSU was led in scoring through the first six games by freshman Jyar Francis, who currently averages a team-fourth 6.3 points a game off the bench, before she missed four games with a concussion. She was cleared for the Tennessee Tech game Dec. 22.

-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, while Aundra Stovall and Brittany Martin both also played a year ago off the bench. 

-Eleven Shockers will suit up against the Ramblers. Freshman Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage was released against exhibition opponent Oklahoma Christian Dec. 29, to play after knee surgery prior to her arrival at WSU, and she got her first career start against Indiana State. Marija Pacar returned Dec. 11 after missing three games with a concussion, while the Shockers added Hannah Mortimer, a 5-4 transfer guard from Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kan. Mortimer was awarded a scholarship before the UNI game after showing an outstanding contribution to the team. Junior Brittany Martin was also released after a knee injury to play at Indiana State Jan. 1. WSU at times suited six players in the non-conference season due to injury this season.

-After playing just one home game in November, WSU played just one game on the road in December at Tennessee Tech. Six of the Shockers' seven games in December were at home, while four of five November games were away from Wichita.

Newcomer Trio... WSU's newcomer trio of sophomore Rangie Bessard, junior TaQuandra Mike and sophomore Diamond Lockhart continue to lead the Shockers in scoring with 14.5 points, 11.9 points and 8.2 points, respectively, through 23 games. The same trio lead in Valley-Only play, and have been the Shockers' top game scorers in the last 21-straight games. Mike has 12 of those, while Bessard has seven, and Lockhart has three.

Improving At the Stripe... Wichita State was ranked No. 85 this week in the nation in free throw percentage and third in the Valley, making 72-percent of its free throws (173-of-240). The Shockers have been even better in MVC-only games, shooting 77-percent (85-of-111) from the line, which is the best in the league. WSU was 8-of-14 against Bradley.

Bessard Shining in MVC Play... Sophomore newcomer Rangie Bessard averaged 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in the Shockers' two games last week against Drake and UNI.

Rebounding Improving... After only out-rebounding two of its first 15 opponents, the Shockers have won the glass four times and tied once in the last eight games. Rangie Bessard's team-leading effort has contributed to winning the glass in those games, while she has led in 12 of the 17 games she has played. 

Newbies... As a testament to WSU's inexperience, WSU's most experienced Shocker, Jaleesa Chapel, just reached her 24th career start against Bradely. In addition, the Shockers have won six Valley Newcomer of the Week honors. After a two-win weekend, sophomore transfer Rangie Bessard earned her third of the season, while TaQuandra Mike, Jyar Francis and Diamond Lockhart have also been named Newcomer of the Week this season.  

Swat That...Despite missing eight games, Brittany Martin has 23 blocked shots in the 13 games she's played for an average of 1.9 blocks per game. The 23 blocks have come in just 237 minutes played.

Stepping Up to The Valley... TaQuandra Mike has scored double-figures in seven-of-12 Valley games and 14-of-23 overall. Mike has also scored in double-figures in 14 of her last 20 games, including a stretch of seven-straight. In comparison, she had a total of nine points in the Shockers' first three regular-season games.

Getting Minutes... Four Shockers average more than 30 minutes a game led by Aundra Stovall's 34.3 a game. In addition, 10 of the 11 Shockers average more than 12 minutes a game.

League-Only Success... Wichita State has had the most success in league-only play in the past five seasons. The Shockers are 68-23 since 2010-11. Notably, seven current MVC members have been .500 or better during that span, including Wichita State, UNI (61-29), Missouri State (53-37), Illinois State (48-42), Indiana State (48-42), Drake (47-43) and Evansville (46-44).

Series History...Today's game marks the eighth meeting in the series between Loyola and Wichita State. WSU was 6-0 before dropping a 60-55 loss in Chicago on Jan. 15. 

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Loyola Basketball... (12-10, 8-3 MVC) 
Head Coach Sheryl Swoopes is in her third season at the head of the Rambler bench. Swoopes was named the eighth coach in program history on April 12, 2013. She carries a record of 

Scouting Loyola...For her efforts last weekend, Loyola redshirt junior forward Taylor Manuel was honored as the Missouri Valley Conference's Player of the Week... Loyola downed Evansville, 67-54, last Sunday in Chicago... Manuel posted her sixth double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) of the season.

Block Party... Loyola ranks No. 15 in the nation as a team in blocks per game (5.5), while the Ramblers are the only league team to have three individuals in the Valley's top-10, led by Taylor Manuel (1.5 bpg, 5th).
 

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Sixth Shocker N-O-W... Rangie Bessard was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season the week ending Jan. 24. A sophomore forward, Bessard averaged 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the Shockers' two wins, while shooting 51.9-percent (14-of-27) from the field. She had nine points and 11 boards against Southern Illinois and 26 points and seven rebounds against Evansville. Bessard also had three assists, one block and one steal for the week.

Sticky Fingers... TaQuandra Mike leads WSU with 49 steals in 23 games played. Alex Harden holds the WSU season steals record with 108 a year ago. 

Getting Healthy... With the return of Marija Pacar (concussion), Jyar Francis (concussion), Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage (knee) and Brittany Martin (knee), and the addition of non-scholarship Hannah Mortimer, the Shockers have adding depth to the bench. Pacar missed three games, Francis missed four games and Bessard (transfer) missed the first six games. Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage (knee) missed the first 11 games and was released to play the exhibition game Dec. 29. Brittany Martin missed eight games. WSU had 11 players eligible for the first time this season in the Shockers' two Valley game to open the regular season. In all, Wichita State's five players who missed games due to injury or transfer rules, were not available for a total of 32 games.

Defending Champions Picked Fifth...WSU was picked in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason poll to finish fifth, its lowest position in the preseason poll since 2010-11 when the Shockers were also picked fifth. WSU finished fifth that season, then finished third in 2011-12 after being picked third, before going onto three-straight titles.

Picking Up Speed... Rangie Bessard has now played her first 17 games as a Shocker. She collected her fourth double-double at UNI (19 pts/11 reb), third double-double of the season at Bradley (27 pts/18 rebounds), second double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 boards at Tennessee Tech, and also had 24 points and 10 rebounds against Prairie View A&M. She has already earned All-Tournament honors at the Winter Classic and earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors three times in her short WSU career.

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 152-101 in her eighth season at WSU and 181-110 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 92-30 (.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.

Next Up... Wichita State takes back to the road Feb. 19 at Evansville and Feb. 21 at SIU. The Shockers defeated UE, Jan. 24, 58-50, and also topped SIU, 57-48, on Jan. 22, in Wichita.