WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State begins a Texas two-game road swing with a visit to Houston to face the Cougars Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

ON THE AIR
Saturday's game can be heard on the radio at KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM with the voice of Shocker Women's Basketball Steve Strain calling the action. Strain is in his sixth season broadcasting games for the women's program. The game will also be televised on ESPN3 and the ESPN app.

100 
Wichita State scored 100 points in its victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, Dec. 16, marking the first time since 1999 the Shockers have reached the century mark. It is only the sixth time in program history that a Wichita State team has put 100 points on the scoreboard. They are 6-0 all-time when scoring 100-plus.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State had its three-game win streak snapped by USF on Wednesday night. USF outrebounded the Shockers 41-28, making Wichita State 2-8 in games this season when losing the rebound battle. Wichita State forced 25 turnovers, marking the fifth game this season they have turned the opponent over 25 or more times. Mariah McCully scored 17 of her game-high 21 points after halftime, extending her double-figure streak to 13 in a row. Carla Bremaud tallied 16 points and three steals, her seventh game with 10 or more points this season. The duo of Bremaud and McCully combined to score 37 of Wichita State's 50 points.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Houston enters the matchup at 9-10 overall and 2-3 in league play. The Cougars own league wins over Memphis and ECU, while their three losses came against Temple, UConn and Cincinnati. Dorian Branch leads four Cougars in double figures at 11.9 points per game to go with a team-high 66 assists. Tatyana Hill pulls down 6.7 rebounds to go with 11.8 points, while Dymond Gladney and Julia Blackshell-Fair post 11.5 and 10.7 points a contest, respectively. Blackshell-Fair, Branch and Gladney rank first, second and third in the American Athletic Conference in minutes played. Branch is one of the league's top players in terms of three-pointers made and attempted where she ranks second and fifth. The Cougars do a solid job on the offensive glass, pulling down 15.1 offensive rebounds a game (ranks 29th nationally).

THE SERIES VS. HOUSTON
Wichita State and Houston have met five times prior to Saturday's matchup, with the Cougars owning a 5-0 record in the series. The two programs first met on Jan. 14, 2004 in Wichita - a 75-61 win for Houston. Wichita State is 0-2 vs. the Cougars in Houston. This will be the Shockers' first-ever game inside the newly renovated Fertitta Center. Wichita State traveled to Houston in 2018, but played at Texas Southern while construction was being completed.

LAST MEETING
The two programs met only once a season ago - a 66-58 win for Houston in Wichita. Wichita State forced 21 Houston turnovers, but the Cougars made up for it by outrebounding the Shockers by eight and knocking down 10 three-pointers. Both teams shot 41 percent from the field. Wichita State also converted on only 10-of-18 attempts at the free throw line. Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Carla Bremaud added 17 and four steals. Those two combined for 35 of Wichita State's 58 points and made all six of the team's three-pointers.

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Located in Houston, Texas, the University of Houston has an enrollment of 43,770 as a member of the American Athletic Conference. Houston returns only four letterwinners and two starters off last year's squad that finished 15-16 and 9-7 in The American. The Cougars were picked to finish 5th by the league's coaches in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. Dorian Branch was selected by the coaches to the Preseason All-Conference Second Team. Head Coach Ronald Hughey is in his sixth season at UH with a career record of 68-105. Hughey has led UH to two straight postseason appearances, including a WNIT berth in 2017-18 when the Cougars won 20 games. Last season, Hughey guided UH to a 4th place finish in the league, its highest since joining The American. Hughey arrived at UH with 10 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience. He helped guide five different schools to the postseason each year from 2007-14, including six consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament with four separate programs.

SHOCKERS MAKE AMERICAN RECORD BOOK 
In Wichita State's 100-50 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, Dec. 16, the Shockers tied the conference single-game record with 36 made free throws, going a collective 36-of-45 (80 percent) from the charity stripe. That performance draws even with USF's 36 foul shots against UCF on Jan. 5, 2016. WSU finished one make shy of the top mark in school history (37, in 2005).

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 12-8 on the season
... make them 4-3 in conference play
... be their first-ever win vs. Houston
... snap a Houston's five-game win streak in the series
... run Adams' career coaching record to 449-289
... make Adams 322-252 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 608-691 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... drop them to 11-9 to begin the season
... make them 3-4 in conference play
... drop them to 0-6 all-time vs. Houston
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 448-290
... make Adams 321-253 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 607-692 all-time

BEST DECADE YET
Wichita State's win over Grambling State on Dec. 30 was the final contest of 2019 and decade for the Shocker basketball program. It signaled the end of the most successful 10-year run in program history, as Wichita State compiled 182 wins over the decade, which included three MVC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, three NCAA Appearances, 12 all-conference selections and one All-American and WNBA Draft Pick in future Shocker Hall of Famer Alex Harden.

OH MY MARIAH
Junior Mariah McCully has been on a tear recently for the Shockers. Over her last 13 games, McCully is averaging 14.9 points with outputs of 13 at Missouri State and Tulane, 25 vs. Eastern Michigan, 14 at Creighton, 17 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 10 against Montana State and Virginia Tech, 18 vs. Grambling, 16 at UConn, 11 at ECU and vs. Tulsa, 15 vs. Temple and 21 vs. USF. Her 14 games of 10 or more points this season rank first on the team and she is Wichita State's leading scorer on the year at 13.3 per game. McCully has played in 17 games this season and her lowest scoring total was five points at Louisiana Tech. On the defensive side of the ball, McCully has been a pest to opposing offenses. She has recorded multiple steals in 10 of the last 12 games, including four or more three times. In those 12 games, she is averaging 2.8 steals a contest.

REBOUNDING IS THE KEY
When Wichita State wins the rebound battle, the outcome has been positive this season. The Shockers are 9-0 when winning the battle of the boards and 2-8 when they don't. In Wichita State's 11 wins this season, the Shockers are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 6.2 boards a game. In the eight losses, they average only 30.9 rebounds and are outrebounded by 10.8.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN(S)
The votes are in. Wichita State women's basketball will feature three team captains in 2019-20 - senior Ashley Reid and sophomores Seraphine Bastin and Trajata Colbert. Selected by their teammates, the trio will be looked upon to lead the Shocker basketball program for the remainder of the campaign.

UP NEXT
Wichita State wraps up its two-game road trip through the Lone Star State with a pit stop in Dallas to face SMU on Wednesday, Jan. 29.