Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
No. 8 Wichita State Shockers (8-21, 5-13) vs. No. 9 Bradley Braves (8-21, 4-14)
Tournament Central: Link
Time: 4 p.m., Central
Date: March 10, 2016
Location: Moline, Ill.
Arena: iWireless Arena (9,200)
Worth Noting... No. 8 seed Wichita State (8-21, 5-13) plays No. 9 seed Bradley (8-21, 4-14) at 4 p.m., Thursday in Session I of the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament inside the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill. "Hoops in the Heartland" is in the first season of a three-year contract with the Quad Cities Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
-The winner faces No. 1 seed Northern Iowa (20-9, 15-3) at noon, Friday.
-Wichita State is the three-time defending champion of the MVC Tournament, winning the event in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in St. Charles, Mo., at the Family Arena. WSU defeated Loyola, UNI and Missouri State in 2015 to win the title. In 2014, the Shockers defeated Missouri State, Illinois State and Drake to win and in 2013, WSU won its first MVC Tournament title with wins against Drake, UNI and Illinois State.
-A string of six-straight postseason berths is on the line when WSU opens the Valley Tournament Thursday. WSU participated in the WBI in 2010, the NIT in 2011 and 2012, and the NCAA Tournament 2013-15.
-The Shockers are led by sophomore forward Rangie Bessard, who was named Wednesday to the All-MVC Team as an honorable mention selection. Bessard, from Rosharon, Texas, played in 23 games for the Shockers after sitting out the fall semester per NCAA transfer rules, and averaged 15.5 points a game, the fifth-best overall average in the league. She also led WSU in rebounding at 7.7 rebounds a game, which ranked fourth overall in the MVC.
- On Tuesday, sophomores Rangie Bessard and Diamond Lockhart were named to the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Second Team. Bessard, a forward from Rosharon, Texas, carries a 3.5 in Biological Science, while Lockhart, from Red Oak, Texas, carries a 3.9 in Exercise Science.
-The lowest-seeded team to ever win the MVC Tournament was the No. 9 Evansville Purple Aces squad in 2009. Previously, there were a pair of No. 8 seeds – Illinois State in 2005 and Drake in 2007 – to claim MVC Tournament titles. Just one No. 7 seed (Missouri State in 2006) has ever won the MVC Tournament title.
-On Saturday, WSU defeated Indiana State, 54-53, at home in the final game of the regular-season. Bessard led the Shockers with 17 points and TaQuandra Mike had nine boards to lead WSU on the glass. On Thursday, WSU lost to Illinois State, 53-49, as TaQuandra Mike had 17 points and Rangie Bessard had 13 in the loss.
-The Shockers have split the last three, two-game Valley weekends, losing to Bradley (55-50) before defeating Loyola (65-62, OT) in Wichita on Feb. 12/14, winning at Evansville before dropping an 80-66 loss at SIU on Feb. 19/21, and losing to Illinois State, 53-49, before the home finale win against Indiana State, March 3/5. A lone loss to travel partner Missouri State on Feb. 27 was also mixed in that stretch.
-WSU's 66 points in a road loss at SIU, 80-66, were the most for the Shockers since winning 76-62 at Florida International 22 games previous.
-WSU's conference road win at Evansville, 44-31, came with 16 points from Bessard and 12 from Mike. WSU held the Aces to 31 points, which ties for the second least points allowed in MVC history, and to 22.9 percent shooting. Sara Dickey, the fourth-leading scorer in the MVC with 16.5 points a game at the time, was held to four points, and no Ace scored in double-figures.
-Bessard leads WSU in overall scoring with 15.5 points a game and also on the boards with 7.7 a game in the 23 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 12.4 points a game and also leads the team in steals with 57 in 29 games. Transfer Diamond Lockhart is third with 7.4 points a game overall while she leads the team in assists with 77 in the 29 games.
-Bessard also led the Shockers in MVC-Only scoring at 15.4 points a game while Mike is second in loop games with 13.2 a game. Lockhart was third in MVC-only games with 6.6 points a game and led the squad with 43 assists in 18 MVC games.
-WSU was led in scoring through the first six games by freshman Jyar Francis, who currently averages a team-fourth 5.5 points a game off the bench, before she missed four games with a concussion. She was cleared for the Tennessee Tech game Dec. 22, and has played every game since.
-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 at the Valley Tournament. 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.
-Wichita State Honorable Mention All-American Alex Harden and two-time Most Outstanding Player at the MVC Tournament, is currently playing professionally in Turkey after completing her first season in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury.
Valley Tournament History...Overall, Wichita State is 16-18 in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. WSU is 3-1 in Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship games, including a 78-59 loss to Drake in 1997, and wins the last three seasons. The Shockers are 10-11 in quarterfinal games and 4-6 in semifinal games. Jody Adams has 11 career tournament wins, more than any other coach in the tournament.
Series vs. Bradley...Bradley won both meetings during the regular season, the last a 55-50 win in Wichita Feb. 12. The first meeting in Peoria saw the WSU drop a 50-44 loss on Jan. 17. WSU had won four-straight in the series before the losses. The Shockers hold a 35-32 edge in the series, and are 20-13 at home. WSU is 1-0 against Bradley in the tournament, a 74-67 semifinal win in 1997 under former head coach Linda Hargrove, who is the only other Shocker head coach to coach in a Valley Tournament title game.
Winning Coaches... Wichita State's Jody Adams each recently earned her 155th career win, ranking her tied for 11th all-time in MVC history (since the 1982-83 season).
All-Time MVC Coaching Wins
8. 170, Connie Yori, Creighton (1993-2002); 9. 167, Paula Buscher, Bradley (2001-11); 10. 158, Tanya Warren (UNI, 2008-Pres.); T11. 155, Jim Wiedie, Indiana State (2001-10); T11. 155, Jody Adams (WSU, 2009-Pres.)
Combined Wins... Wichita State is the only Valley school to have both the winningest men's and women's basketball head coach in school history at the current helm. Jody Adams has 155 wins on the women's side and Gregg Marshall on the men's side has 228 wins for a combined total of 383 wins. That total is also tops in the league with UNI in second at 375 and Evansville third at 194 total wins combined.
MVC Success Last Five... Wichita State has had the most success in league-only play in the past five seasons. The Shockers are 69-23 since 2010-11. Notably, seven current MVC members have been .500 or better during that span, including Wichita State, UNI (62-29), Missouri State (54-37), Illinois State (48-43), Indiana State (48-43), Drake (48-43) and Evansville (46-45).
Illinois Shocker...WSU freshman
Ellie Lehne hails from Byron, Illinois, which is approximately 92 miles northeast of the Quad Cities.
Mike Filling It Up... TaQuandra Mike scored double-figures in 13-of-18 Valley games and 20-of-29 overall, including the last seven-straight games. During that time she has had her first double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds at Evansville, and most recently had 16 points against Indiana State.
Newcomer Trio... WSU's newcomer trio of sophomore
Rangie Bessard, junior
TaQuandra Mike and sophomore
Diamond Lockhart continue to lead the Shockers in scoring, and have been the Shockers' top game scorers in the last 27-straight games. Mike has 14 of those, while Bessard has 12, and Lockhart has three.
Offensive Prowess... Sophomore newcomer
Rangie Bessard has scored in double-figures in 11 of the last 12 games and 17 times in the 23 games she's played.
MVC Tournament Notes
Neutral Colors...For the ninth-straight season, the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament will be played at a neutral site after using institutional home arenas as hosts for the first 22 league tournaments. The MVC will host the tournament at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill., in the first of a multi-year contract, March 10-13. Just six Division I conferences host stand-alone women's basketball tournaments (Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and MVC).
Best Spot...The top seed has won the conference tourna- ment in 17 of 30 seasons and a team that has won or shared the regular-season title has gone on to win the tournament title 20 times. Top seeds have four runner-up finishes.
Teams seeded No. 2 have won the tourna- ment five times and finished as the runner-up 11 times.
Teams seeded No. 4 have won three times, while the No. 8 seed has won twice. Seeds No. 5 (UNI, 2010), No. 7 (Missouri State, 2006) and No. 9 (Evansville, 2009) have won the tournament just once.
Worst Spot...Seeds No. 3, No. 6 and No. 10 have yet to win an MVC Tournament. Teams seeded third have eight runner-up finishes, while teams seeded sixth have just one runner-up finish. The No. 10 seed has won just two MVC Tournament games in league history (No. 10 Wichita State defeated No. 7 Missouri State in 2009, 52-51; and No. 10 Southern Illinois defeated No. 7 Evansville in 2013, 83-74 in overtime).
Chalk It Up...Since the league moved to a neutral-site tournament in St. Charles in 2007-08, just twice have the top-four seeds in the bracket ad- vanced to semifinal Saturday of the championship – in 2013, when the bracket produced chalk with top-four seeds Wichita State, Creighton, Illinois State and UNI – and again in 2008 (Illinois State, Evansville, Drake and Creighton).
Three of the top-four seeds advanced to Sat- urday in 2009 and 2015, while only two of the top-four seeds advanced in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Rebounding Improving... After only out-rebounding two of its first 15 opponents, the Shockers have won the glass six times and tied twice in the last 14 games. Rangie Bessard's team-leading effort has contributed to winning the glass in those games, while she has led or tied for the team lead in 14 of the 23 games she has played.
Newbies... As a testament to WSU's inexperience, WSU's most experienced Shocker, Jaleesa Chapel, just reached only her 30th career start. 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 28 blocked shots in the 18 games she's played for an average of 1.6 blocks per game.
Getting Minutes... Four Shockers average more than 30 minutes a game led by Jaleesa Chapel's 33.3 a game. In addition, 10 of the 11 Shockers average more than 12 minutes a game.
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, the sixth such Shocker honor. 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 57 steals in 29 games played. Alex Harden holds the WSU season steals record with 108 a year ago.
Shockers Battled Adversity Early... 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 added depth to the bench after early season adversity. Pacar missed three games, Francis missed four games and Bessard (transfer) missed the first six games. 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 games 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.
Early Bessard Honors... Rangie Bessard 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 155-104 in her eighth season at WSU and 184-113 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 92-32 (.763) 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.
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.
