WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State opens the 2017-18 season with the first of two straight road games. The Shockers make the relatively short trip north to Omaha, Neb., to face familiar foe, Creighton Friday morning for an 11:30 a.m. tipoff in D.J. Sokol Arena.
On the Air
Fans can listen to Friday's matchup online at GoShockers.com/listen with the voice of Shocker Women's Basketball Steve Strain calling the action. Strain begins his fourth season broadcasting games for the women's program. No video stream will be available.
Exhibition Contests
Wichita State enters the regular season with a pair of exhibition wins over Oklahoma Baptist (65-54) and Southwest Baptist (82-64). Wichita State averaged 73.5 points in the two scrimmages and had a rebounding margin of +16. Defensively, the Shockers forced 48 turnovers with 26 of them coming in the way of steals
Season Openers
Wichita State is 23-20 all time in season openers dating back to the 1974-75 season. For the fourth straight season Wichita State opens the season vs. the Creighton Bluejays. The Shockers won the last meeting on Nov. 13, 2016 in Charles Koch Arena, 62-54.
Opening on the Road
The Shockers first two games of the season are in hostile territory. The last time Wichita State opened a season with two straight road games was in 2012-13 when the Shockers traveled to LSU (Nov. 11) and Arkansas State (Nov. 15). Wichita State split the two road games, falling at LSU (72-70) and winning at Arkansas State (60-51).
Catching up with Creighton
The Bluejays won their lone exhibition game, a 68-63 victory over Northern State on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Creighton's top three returning players combined to score 39 of the team's 68 points led by Jaylyn Agnew's 15 points. Creighton shot 46 percent overall and 52 percent from beyond the three-point line to hold off a fiesty Northern State squad.
The Series with Creighton
Wichita State and Creighton have met on the hardwood every year dating back to 1993 despite the two teams being in different conferences starting in 2014. The Bluejays hold a 33-25 advantage in the all time series with the home team winning each of the last eight meetings. Wichita State is 6-19 vs. Creighton in Omaha.
Last Meeting
Wichita State won the matchup last season in Wichita, 62-54, in the 2016-17 season-opener on Nov. 13, 2016. Forward
Rangie Bessard led the Shockers with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Guard
Keke Thompson and forward
Angiee Tompkins chipped in 11 points apiece. As a team, Wichita State shot 46.9 percent from the field, while holding Creighton to just 32.7 percent. The Shockers also forced 19 turnovers, 10 of which were turned into steals.
Scouting the Bluejays
Creighton returns seven letterwinners (two starters) from a 2016-17 squad that won a share of the BIG EAST with a record of 24-8 overall and 16-2 mark in league play. The Bluejays were picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST in 2017-18 by the league coaches. Junior Audrey Faber returns to lead CU after a solid sophomore campaign in which she averaged 12.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Faber started all 32 games that she played in last season. She is a preseason All-BIG EAST Team member. Senior Sydney Lamberty will lead the backcourt for Creighton in 2017-18. She averaged 9.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a junior. The Bluejays advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Head Coach Jim Flanery enters his 16th season with Creighton after another successful season. Flanery led the Bluejays to their third NCAA Tournament appearance under his guidance in 2016-17. He carries an overall record of 293-191 into the season as the school's all-time winningest head coach.
Last Time Out
The Shockers downed Southwest Baptist, 82-64, in the second exhibition contest of the season behind 26 points and seven rebounds from
Rangie Bessard.
Angiee Tompkins and
Keke Thompson added 15 and 10 points, respectively. As a team Wichita State outrebounded Southwest Baptist, 41-26, and forced 27 turnovers.
Shocker Summary
Wichita State was picked to finish 10th in its inaugural American Athletic Conference season by the league's coaches. The Shockers return nine letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 15-16 overall. Eight of the nine letterwinners are seniors led by First Team All-Conference honoree
Rangie Bessard (17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds).
Angiee Tompkins (9.0 pts, 4.5 reb) and junior forward
Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage (4.1 pts, 3.5 reb.) will help Bessard lead the frontcourt. A plethora of guards will handle the perimeter play this season.
Keke Thompson (6.4 pts, 2.6 ast),
Aundra Stovall (2.9 pts, 2.1 ast),
Diamond Lockhart (3.4 pts),
Jeliah Preston (5.6 pts, 38.2% 3-pt FG%) and
Tamara Lee (5.9 pts, 31 3-pt FG made) all return and will share time in the backcourt. Redshirt senior guard
Jaleesa Chapel returns after missing all of 2016-17 with an ACL injury.
Bessard Closing in on 1,000 Points
Senior forward
Rangie Bessard enters the season needing just 143 points to reach 1,000 points in a Shocker uniform. Bessard is looking to become the 20th Shocker to reach the 1,000 point mark. The Rosharon, Texas, native is coming off an all-conference junior campaign where she averaged 17.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Alex Harden
was the last Shocker to reach the milestone in 2015. She left Wichita as the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,708 points.
A Shocker Win Would...
... make them 1-0 on the season
... improve their record to 24-20 in season-openers
... close the gap in the all-time series with CU, 33-26
... make them 7-19 vs. Creighton in Omaha
... be their first season-opening win on the road since Nov. 19, 1999 at UMKC
... give
Keitha Adams her first win in the Black & Yellow
... run Adams' career coaching record to 412-246
... make Adams 285-209 at the Division I level
... make the Shockers 347-217 all-time in Koch Arena
... make Wichita State 571-648 all-time
A Shocker Loss Would...
... drop them to 0-1 on the season
... make them 23-21 in season-openers
... widen the margin for CU in the all-time series, 34-25
... drop them to 6-20 vs. the Bluejays in Omaha
... be their third straight road loss
... be their sixth straight season-opening road loss
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 411-246
... make Adams 284-210 at the Division I level
... make the Shockers 346-218 all-time in Koch Arena
... make Wichita State 570-649 all-time
Keitha Adams
A new year era of Shocker women's basketball begins in 2017-18 under new head coach
Keitha Adams. With more than 20 years of head coaching experience, including 16 at the Division I level, Adams will look to bring her winning ways to the Air Capital. The Oxford, Kan., native spent the last 16 years at UTEP where she was responsible for all four UTEP postseason bids (NCAA in 2012 and 2008; WNIT 2016 and 2014) and all four championships (2016 C-USA regular season, 2012 C-USA regular season and conference tournament and 2008 C-USA regular season) in school history. All six Miner 20+ win seasons were during Adams' tenure, including a school-record tying 29 in 2015-16. The only three-time Conference USA Women's Basketball Coach of the Year (2016, 2012 and 2008), in league history, Adams graduated every player who exhausted their eligibility at UTEP during her tenure. UTEP's all-time wins leader (284-209, 16 years), Adams is 411-246 overall as a collegiate head coach (21 years).
Shockers Picked 10th in The American Preseason Poll
Wichita State was picked to finish 10th in its inaugural American Athletic Conference season by the league's coaches, it was announced Oct. 16.
UConn tallied 121 points and 11 of 12 first-place votes. UConn enters the season returning seven letterwinners and four starters, including 2016-17 American Athletic Conference Players of the Year Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson, from last year's squad that went 36-1 (18-0 in The American).
The American enjoyed tremendous basketball success in 2016-17 highlighted by UConn winning an NCAA record 111 consecutive games and advancing to its 10th straight Final Four. Six teams – UCF, UConn, USF, SMU, Temple and Tulane – were selected for postseason play. The Shockers became a member of the conference as a full member on July 1.
All 12 league schools will tip off the conference schedule the final weekend of December.
The 2018 American Women's Basketball Championship will take place March 3-6 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
The American Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
| School (First-Place Votes) |
Total |
| 1. UConn (11) |
121 |
| 2. USF (1) |
110 |
| 3. Temple |
98 |
| 4. UCF |
91 |
| 5. SMU |
79 |
| 6. Tulane |
73 |
| 7. Memphis |
53 |
| 8. Cincinnati |
50 |
| 9. Tulsa |
43 |
| 10. Wichita State |
31 |
| 11. Houston |
27 |
| 12. ECU |
16 |
Up Next
Wichita State is back on the road for the second straight game to open the 2017-18 season. The Shockers travel south to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Plus.
