WICHITA, Kan. - After Wichita State's first three conference games were postponed due to COVID-19 within the program, Wichita State will open league play at Houston on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

ON THE AIR
Wednesday's game can be heard on the radio at KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM with the voice of Shocker Women's Basketball Steve Strain calling the action. Strain is in his seventh season broadcasting games for the women's program. The game will also be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

THE AMERICAN ON ESPN+ 
The American Athletic Conference is in its first season of a new TV deal that will see a majority of Wichita State's games televised on ESPN+. Fans can find more information and how to subscribe to ESPN+ here.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State suffered its second straight loss after a 3-0 start with a 62-54 loss to South Dakota last Friday. Wichita State committed 23 turnovers - 14 of them steals for the Coyotes. The 14 steals were a season high for a Shocker opponent. Wichita State held the South Dakota offense in check for much of the game, as the Coyotes shot just 31.8 percent and missed 17-of-22 attempts from three-point range. Mariah McCully scored a team-high 16 points behind 4-of-8 shooting beyond the arc. Rachel Johnson made her first career start and finished with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting.

STRONG START
Wichita State junior forward Asia Strong made a strong impression in her Shocker debut against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Nov. 27. The South Bend, Ind., native logged a game-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds in her first Division I contest. She scored 11 of her 20 points in the first half to help the Shockers begin to pull away from a pesky A&M Corpus Christi squad. Strong followed that performance with a 16-point outing against Alcorn on Nov. 30. She scored 12 of her game-high 16 after halftime. She then notched her fourth straight game in double figures with a season-high 22 vs. UNI. Her streak of games scoring 10 or more points came to an end vs. South Dakota when she finished with nine points. Strong leads Wichita State in scoring at 15.4 points per game.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Houston is 4-1 overall and 1-0 in American Athletic Conference play after a league-opening win vs. Memphis, 75-63. The Cougars also own wins over Oklahoma, Auburn and Stephen F. Austin. Britney Onyeje leads Houston in scoring at 16.7 points per game to go with 5.3 rebounds. Dymond Gladney rounds out the double-digit scorers at 11.8 per game. Julia Blackshell-Fair ranks fourth in the conference in assists and second in assist-turnover ratio. As a team, Houston ranks first in The American in points per game and three-pointers made per game, while ranking second in steals and assists per game.

THE SERIES VS. HOUSTON
Wichita State and Houston have met seven times prior to Wednesday's matchup with the series being one-sided in favor of the Cougars. Wichita State recorded its first-ever win vs. Houston last season in the American Athletic Conference Championship, snapping a six-game losing streak. Houston is 3-0 vs. the Shockers in Houston. Wichita State and Houston met only once during the regular season in 2019-20, an overtime win for the Cougars, before the Shockers eliminated UH from the conference tournament in March.

LAST MEETING
Wichita State claimed its first American Athletic Conference Championship win in program history with a 72-64 win vs. Houston in the 2020 first round a season ago. Mariah McCully scored a team-high 12 points, while Trajata Colbert recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Houston's Dymond Gladney scored a game-high 21 points behind 7-of-15 shooting from three-point range. Wichita State shot 44.8 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and went 14-of-15 at the free throw line to pick up the win. The Shockers also outrebounded the Cougars by 10 and held them to 33.8 percent shooting.

SHOCKERS ADD WALK-ON
Wichita State added some roster depth over the holiday break in the addition of walk-on Mariah McKinney. McKinney is a Wichita native having played her prep basketball at nearby Wichita East High School. Most recently she completed a season at Fort Scott Community College in 2018-19. McKinney played in 27 contests for the Greyhounds and averaged 5.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

STRONG COLLECTS SECOND WEEKLY HONOR ROLL SELECTION
Wichita State junior forward Asia Strong picked up her second American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll selection on Dec. 7 after posting 16.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in three games during the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6. Strong helped Wichita State go 2-1 during the week, highlighted by her first career double-double vs. UNI with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Both were season highs. She also posted games of 16 and 10 points vs. Alcorn and Southern during the span.

COLBERT'S CAREER HIGH
Junior forward Trajata Colbert posted her first career 20-point game vs. UNI on Dec. 6. The Rochelle, Ga., native scored 14 of her career-high 21 points in the first half, and was a career-best 9-of-14 from the field. Colbert also added five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the double overtime contest.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 4-2 on the season
... make them 1-0 in conference play
... move them to 2-6 all-time vs. Houston
... be their second straight win vs. the Cougars
... run Adams' career coaching record to 457-298
... make Adams 330-261 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 616-700 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... make them 3-3 to start the season
... make them 0-1 in conference play
... drop them to 1-7 all-time vs. Houston
... be their fourth straight loss to the Cougars in Houston
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 456-299
... make Adams 329-262 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 615-701 all-time

MCCULLY LANDS ON PRESEASON SECOND TEAM    
Wichita State senior guard Mariah McCully became the first Shocker to collect preseason accolades for Wichita State since joining the American Athletic Conference when she was placed on the Preseason All-Conference Second Team by the league's coaches. McCully earned All-Conference Third Team honors after leading Wichita State in scoring (12.6 ppg) and steals (56) as a junior in 2019-20.

SHOCKERS PICKED 6TH IN PRESEASON POLL
Wichita State was picked to finish 6th in the American Athletic Conference by the league's coaches. It is the highest preseason pick for the Shockers since joining The American. WSU returns 65.0 percent of its scoring from a season ago, including All-Conference Second Team selection Mariah McCully.

BREMAUD ON THE CAREER CHARTS      
Wichita State junior guard Carla Bremaud comes into the 2020-21 season already in the top 10 for three-pointers attempted in a career at Wichita State. Her 301 three-point attempts place her in ninth and needing just one more to pass Shelley Crow for eighth in school history. Bremaud also passed Lexee McDonnell for 10th place on the career three-pointers made list. She now has 97 made triples and is two shy of moving into sole possession of seventh place.

UP NEXT
Wichita State opens the New Year with a home contest vs. Cincinnati on Jan. 2, before a trip to Tampa to face USF on Jan. 6.