Quickly - WSU is tied for fourth with SIU, while Illinois State is tied for eighth in the league and Bradley is seventh.

-Former Shocker Head Coach Linda Hargrove was named Shocker Head Coach Jan. 22. She was the fourth head coach in Shocker history, and is now the eighth head coach. She was 113-136 at WSU in nine seasons, and had a collegiate coaching record of 429-248 in 26 seasons.

-Hargrove is now 116-138 at WSU in a 10th season and 432-250 overall. The Evansville win was her first in Charles Koch Arena since returning to the bench.

-Assistant Coach Kirk Crawford was the acting head coach for WSU's wins against Bradley and Illinois State Jan. 20/22. WSU defeated Illinois State, 67-45, and Bradley, 65-54.

-The Shockers are 491-538 in conference play since 1982 in the Gateway (1982-91) and Missouri Valley Conferences (1992-Present).

On the Series... Friday's game will mark the 72nd game in series history, dating back to 1980 when Illinois State won, 76-74, in Wichita. WSU trails, 44-27, and 9-24 in Normal. After six-straight wins, WSU lost both games a year ago in the home-and-home series. 

On Illinois State... Barb Smith is in her fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State. The Redbirds, which were picked to finish eighth in the MVC, are 3-10 in MVC play under Barb Smith. Senior Brechelle Beachum leads the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game and in steals with 55. She ranks second in made triples (27) and assists (47). Fellow classmate Taylor Stewart adds 11.7 points per game and leads the squad in 3-pointers (46), assists (52) and free throw shooting (49-of-59, 83.1). Sophomore Viria Livingston leads the team on the glass with 5.7 rebounds per game, and junior Hannah Green averages a team-best 3.3 blocks per game.

In the First Meeting... Angiee Tompkins and Rangie Bessard combined to score 36 points to help lead Wichita State to its third straight Missouri Valley Conference win, defeating Illinois State, 67-45. Kirk Crawford served as Acting Head Coach for WSU. Tompkins led all scorers with 20 points, while also collecting a game-high eight rebounds. Bessard also added 16 points and three rebounds. The Redbirds were led in scoring by Brechelle Beachum who had 19 points and three rebounds while Hannah Green added 10 points.
 
Bessard's Gets Game-Winner... Rangie Bessard averaged 20.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in the Shockers' two games last week, and hit the game winning shot against Evansville Friday night. For the week, she shot 51.4 percent (18-35) from the field and averaged 2.5 blocks, 2.0 steals and 2.0 assists.  Against Evansville, she had 26 points and seven boards while making 11-of-19 shots. Against SIU, she had her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 boards.

Hargrove Gets "First" Home win... Linda Hargrove got her first Charles Koch Arena win in the game against Evansville, her first in the building since returning to the sideline. Her previous home wins came in the building when it was named Levitt Arena prior to the renovation. Her last home win came in her last home game of the 1998 season, an 60-58 win against Indiana State.

Five-Straight... Wichita State's five-game winning streak, broken Feb. 5 against Missouri State, was its longest since the 2014-15 season when the Shockers won 12-straight to close out the regular-season and three-straight tournament games.

Bessard the Second... Rangie Bessard has scored in double-figures in nine-straight games and 15 of the last 16 as the second-leading scorer in the Valley at 16.2 points a game. In Valley-only play, she has double-figures in 11-of-12 games and is also the second-leading scorer in MVC-only games at 16.8 a game.

Not Average... Junior Rangie Bessard's career scoring average of 15.9 points a game through 45 games is on pace to finish in the Shocker Top 5 in history. She averaged 15.5 points a game a year ago in 24 games, and this year is at 16.2 a game. Marguerite Keeley averaged 20.8 points a game from 1975-77, while Allison Daniel averaged 14.9 points a game from 1982-86.

Martin Moves Up… With 18 blocks this season senior Brittany Martin has 131 for her career and is 20 from moving into the Shocker Top 10.  The Shocker record is 256 by Theresa Dreiling from 1979-83.

Rangie Fills It Up... After 23 games, the Shockers are led in scoring by Bessard (16.2) and Mike (8.3). Bessard also leads WSU on the boards with 7.2 a game. She had 17, 20, 16 and 12 points, respectively, in the first four games of the year, but was injured in the Stanford game and missed the Northeastern and Arkansas State games. In the 17 games since returning, she has had double-figure scoring in 16-of-17 games, and is averaging 16.8 ppg in Valley play.

On the Web... Wichita State's home games this season will be broadcast on the internet at www.goshockers.com/watch/ 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. Senior Jaleesa Chapel, injured prior to the first regular-season game, is assisting on the radio as analyst. She is a communications major.