WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State wraps up non-conference action with a matchup against the South Dakota Coyotes Thursday night in Charles Koch Arena.

ON THE AIR
Thursday's game can be heard online at GoShockers.com/Listen 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+ with Shane Dennis and Tracey Anderson on the call. 

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 dropped to 3-1 on the season following a 2OT loss to UNI last Sunday, 93-91. It marked the sixth double overtime contest in program history, making them 5-1 all-time in 2OT games. UNI has now won the last six meetings against Wichita State. Junior Asia Strong notched her first career double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds - both season highs. Strong scored 20 of her 22 points after halftime. Junior Trajata Colbert scored a career-high 21 points - 14 in the first half. Junior Rachel Johnson finished with a season-high 17 points and junior Seraphine Bastin added 16 points and eight rebounds.

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. Strong leads Wichita State in scoring at 17.0 points per game.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES
South Dakota is 1-2 to start to the 2020-21 campaign with a win over Lipscomb and two close losses to ranked foes in No. 1 South Carolina (81-71) and No. 18 Gonzaga (54-50). Liv Korngable leads three Coyotes in double figure scoring at 18.0 points per game to go with 6.0 assists.  Korngable ranks No. 24 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio and No. 27 in assists per game. Hannah Sjerven posts a near double-double with 16.7 points and 9.0 rebounds, while Chloe Lamb rounds out the leading scorers at 10.0 per game. Sjerven ranks 19th nationally in free throw attempts, 26th in blocks and field goal percentage and 36th in free throws made. As a team, South Dakota sits at No. 18 nationally in assist-turnover ratio and 7th in turnovers per game.

THE SERIES VS. SOUTH DAKOTA
Wichita State and South Dakota have met on the hardwood six times dating all the way back to the first meeting on Nov. 27, 1981. Wichita State won the first three meetings, but the Coyotes have taken the last three. Wichita State is 1-1 all-time vs. South Dakota at home.

LAST MEETING
Wichita State and South Dakota met in Sioux Falls, S.D., at the Sanford Pentagon back on Nov. 21, 2018. The Coyotes came out on top, 73-64, for their third straight win over Wichita State in the series. Ciara Duffy led all scorers with 23 points for South Dakota and Madison McKeever added 19. Seraphine Bastin and Jaida Hampton scored a team-high 12 points for the Shockers. Despite shooting 3-for-13 from beyond the arc, Wichita State shot 52 percent from the field, and held South Dakota to just 33.3 percent and 7-of-26 from three-point range. The Coyotes did their damage at the free throw line, going 30-for-36 (83.3 percent) thanks to 29 Wichita State fouls. Two Shockers eventually fouled out in the contest.

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 4-1 on the season
... move them to 4-3 all-time vs. South Dakota
... snap a three-game losing streak vs. the Coyotes
... run Adams' career coaching record to 457-297
... make Adams 330-260 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 378-237 all-time in Charles Koch Arena
... make Wichita State 616-699 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... make them 3-2 to start the season
... drop them to 3-4 all-time vs. South Dakota
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 456-298
... make Adams 329-261 at the Division I level
... make Wichita State 377-238 all-time in Charles Koch Arena
... make Wichita State 615-700 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 299 three-point attempts place her in ninth and needing just four 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 needing only two to move into ninth.

UP NEXT
The Shockers open American Athletic Conference play on the road at Tulsa on Dec. 16 and then travel to the Big Easy for a road contest at Tulane on Dec. 19.