WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State faces Missouri State for the second time in just over a week when the two teams meet Thursday night. The Shockers and Lady Bears will tip at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN3 in Springfield, Mo.
On the Air
Thursday's game can be heard locally on the radio through KNSS 1330 AM/98.7 FM 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. The game can also be seen nationwide through ESPN3.com or the WatchESPN app.
WSU/MSU Connections
Wichita State and Missouri State were Missouri Valley Conference members from 1976-2017 before the Shockers joined the American Athletic Conference in July. Wichita State and Missouri State have met on the court more times than any other Shocker opponent. The two programs met just last week on Nov. 29 in Wichita, a game the Shockers won 72-58.
Win No. 1
Head coach
Keitha Adams has more than 200 Division I coaching wins under her belt, but Sunday's win over UC Irvine was a first. The Kansas native recorded her first win in the Black & Yellow. She now has 286 wins at the Division I level and 413 overall (includes junior college). Adams added another first with last Wednesday's win over Missouri State. The victory was the first coaching victory in Charles Koch Arena. Her next milestone is win No. 300, which is just 14 victories away.
Catching up with the Lady Bears
Missouri State comes into the matchup sporting a 1-6 record. The Lady Bears defeated Central Missouri (62-36) with losses to Ball State (70-58), #16/23 Missouri (69-59), #8/9 Baylor (100-58), Penn (65-60), Wichita State (72-58) and Arkansas-Little Rock (63-51). Missouri State has faced a tough slate to open the season with two ranked opponents. Liza Fruendt returns to lead the Bears in scoring at 15.6 points per game. She also leads the team in steals to go with 3.6 rebounds per game. Aubrey Buckley averages 8.4 points and 5.0 rebounds. MSU has scored 58.0 points on average as a team on 36.8 percent shooting. They are connecting on 32.2 percent of their three-point attempts and 70.9 percent of free throws.
Wichita State-Western Illinois Leftovers
Wichita State had its two-game winning streak snapped and six-game winning streak vs. Western Illinois come to an end... Senior F
Rangie Bessard scored her 1,000th career point after leading the Shockers with 20 in the game... Junior F Sabrina Lozada- Cabbage
now has five games of 10 or more points this season after having two all of last season... Senior G
Jeliah Preston has had back-to-back games with three three-pointers after hitting seven through the first six games.
The Series with Missouri State
Wichita State and Missouri State have met on the hardwood 84 times dating all the way back to the first meeting on Nov. 26, 1976. The Shockers and Bears squared off every year from 1976-2017. The Bears had won the last four meetings until the Shockers snapped the streak last week in Wichita. Wichita State is 12-31 all-time vs. the Lady Bears in Springfield.
Last Meeting
Wichita State and Missouri State renewed its rivalry just last week in Wichita where the Shockers handed the Lady Bears a 72-58 loss.
Rangie Bessard led four Shockers in double-figures with 19 points - 11 of which came from the free throw line.
Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage finished with a career-high 16 points and
Jeliah Preston and
Diamond Lockhart added 11 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, Wichita State shot 50 percent from the field, including a season-best 60 percent from beyond the arc. The Shockers held Missouri State to just 39.6 percent and missing 13-of-15 attempts from three-point range.
About the Lady Bears
Located in Springfield, Mo., Missouri State University has an enrollment of 26,216 as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State returns seven letterwinners, including four starters off last year's squad that finished 16-15 and 12-6 in the MVC. The Bears lost in the first round of WNIT to Iowa. Missouri State was picked to finish second in the MVC this season and has a veteran roster despite the fact that only five Lady Bears are upperclassmen. MSU boasts five players with at least 30 career starts, and the senior class of Aubrey Buckley, Liza Fruendt, Audrey Holt and Lee Ann Polowy have combined for 333 career games and more than 2,100 points since arriving on campus. Junior Danielle Gitzen and sophomore Alexa Willard are among the players with 30-plus starts. Fruendt is the MVC Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 18.2 points 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in league games last year, while Buckley averaged 9.2 points and a team-high 5.2 boards for the full 2016-17 season. Kellie Harper enters her fifth season as the head coach and 14th season overall as a head coach. Harper has a career record of 240-192.
Shocker Summary
Wichita State is 2-7 to start the 2017-18 campaign after losses to Creighton (61-66), Oklahoma State (67- 91), South Dakota (48-62), No. 13/18 Tennessee (56- 68), New Mexico (62-76), Illinois (67-68) and Western Illinois (65-78). The Shockers defeated UC Irvine, 76-53 and Missouri State, 72-58. Senior F
Rangie Bessard leads Wichita State in scoring (17.6), rebounding (7.3) and blocks (6) through nine games. Junior F
Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage averages 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds. Senior F
Angiee Tompkins averages 8.4 points and is shooting a team-best 55.0 percent from the floor. Bessard has scored in double-digits in eight of the team's first nine contests to open the season. She is far and away the current leader in double-figure scoring games for Wichita State with 53 career games of 10 or more points. Out of those 53 games, she has led the team in scoring 35 times. Bessard picked up her first double-double of the season vs. South Dakota (15 points, 11 rebounds) and 15th of her career. Wichita State is averaging 63.8 points per game and allowing 68.9. Through nine games Shocker opponents are shooting 43.8 percent overall. On the offensive side of the ball, Wichita State is making a shade over 40 percent (41.1%) of its shots, including 29.2 percent from long range. WSU has converted on 78.2 percent of its attempts from the free throw line, which ranks 10th nationally. The Shockers have outrebounded their opponents in seven of the first nine contests.
Bessard Reaches 1,000 Points
Senior forward
Rangie Bessard scored 20 points vs. Western Illinois to surpass 1,000 points in a Shocker uniform. Bessard became 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 3-7 on the season
... shrink the margin in the series with MSU to 49-37
... give WSU a two-game winning streak vs. MSU
... make them 13-31 vs. Missouri State in Springfield
... snap a two-game losing skid in Springfield
... run Adams' career coaching record to 414-253
... make Adams 287-216 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 573-655 all-time
A Shocker Loss Would...
... drop them to 2-8 on the season
... widen the margin for MSU in the all-time series, 50-36
... drop them to 12-32 vs. Missouri State in Springfield
... extend MSU's winning streak to three straight in Springfield
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 413-254
... make Adams 286-217 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 572-656 all-time
Up Next
Wichita State is back in Charles Koch Arena for the first of three straight home games beginning with UMKC on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.
