Chicago State (0-0) at Wichita State (0-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021 | 12 PM | Charles Koch Arena
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WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State officially opens the 2021-22 regular season Tuesday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena vs. Chicago State, the opening act of a Shocker basketball doubleheader.

ON THE AIR
Tuesday's game can be heard online at GoShockers.com/Listen with Steve Strain calling the action. Strain is in his eighth year as the voice of Shocker Women's Basketball. The game will also be televised on ESPN+ and through the ESPN app.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State won its exhibition game vs. Missouri Southern last Thursday, 89-61. Four Shockers reached double-figures, led by Jane Asinde's 17 points in only 18 minutes off the bench. Seraphine Bastin did a little bit of everything, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Mariah McCully scored 11 of her 15 points after halftime and DJ McCarty chipped in 13 off the bench. Asia Strong and Trajata Colbert both pulled down 10 rebounds apiece. As a team, Wichita State recorded 63 rebounds - 25 of them coming on the offensive end. All 14 Shockers that suited up saw action in the game with 11 of them scoring at least two points.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Under second-year head coach Tiffany Sardin, Chicago State will look to erase an 0-14 COVID season in 2020-21. Chicago State was faced with COVID-19 challenges in the form of game cancellations last season. Ten games were canceled on the Cougars' 2020-21 schedule. The Cougars return three letterwinners and two starters from a season ago, which means a lot of new faces. Chicago State welcomes eight newcomers to the program, and will be led by Christina Britter who was the third leading scorer at 8.6 points per game. Chicago State was picked to finish 13th in the Western Athletic Conference preseason poll.

THE SERIES VS. CHICAGO STATE  
Wichita State and Chicago State have met just twice prior to Tuesday's matchup, with the Shockers winning the first two meetings. The first ever meeting came all the way back on Dec. 19, 1992 - a Wichita State victory, 75-65. Wichita State and Chicago State will face off for the third time in Wichita, but first since 2017.

LAST MEETING  
Wichita State and Chicago State met in the 2017 Shocker Winter Classic on Dec. 15, 2017, a tight contest that saw the Shockers come away with a 66-63 win in Charles Koch Arena. Rangie Bessard registered a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Angiee Tompkins just missed a double-double of her own with 18 points and eight rebounds. Diamond Lockhart added 15 points and five boards. The trio of Bessard, Lockhart and Tompkins combined for 51 of the team's 66 points. Wichita State attempted only three 3-pointers in the matchup, missing all three, but made up for it by getting to the free throw line 28 times (20-for-28). The Shockers also outrebounded Chicago State, 40-25.

STARTING OFF STRONG
Wichita State senior forward Asia Strong wasted little time settling in during her first season at Wichita State in 2020-21. The South Bend, Ind., native scored 10 or more points in 16 of the team's 18 games, including four games of 20 or more. In Wichita State's 11 league games, she scored 11 or more in every game and averaged 15.4 points. Strong set a season high in points vs. Tulsa in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship with 24 points. She led Wichita State in scoring at 15.2 points per game, which ranked fourth in the American Athletic Conference.

DYNAMIC POINT GUARD
• Wichita State point guard Seraphine Bastin had her best season in a Shocker uniform in 2020-21. Bastin averaged 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.3 steals a game, while shooting 78.7 percent from the free throw line. The 5-foot-8 guard led the team in rebounding, assists, steals and double-doubles. In The American, Bastin ranked second in free throw percentage, third in assists, fourth in rebounding and fifth in assist-turnover ratio.

• Bastin is on the brink of entering the Wichita State top 10 list for career assists. She comes into the 2021-22 season needing only 14 assists to crack the top 10. Allison Daniel currently holds the No. 10 spot with 308 career dimes. Bastin is already in the top 10 for career assists per game at 3.8. Her 3.8 helpers rank ninth best in school history.

• The Dinant, Belgium, native has a bulldog mentality and that is evident in her rebounding. Bastin led Wichita State and ranked sixth in the American Athletic Conference in rebounding at 7.7 per game and 131 total rebounds in 2020-21. Her 131 rebounds were 15 more than the next closest Shocker, which was Trajata Colbert with 116. Bastin has been one of the program's best rebounders since she arrived in 2018. She has 421 career rebounds, far and away the team's active leader. She has averaged 4.6 rebounds or more every season, including her career best 7.7 in 2020-21.

• With another season of eligibility remaining after the 2021-22 season, Bastin could find herself among the Shocker greats. She is on pace to finish her career with more than 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists and 150 steals. Only one player in Wichita State history has accomplished that feat - Alex Harden. As it stands now, Bastin has 627 career points, 429 rebounds, 295 assists and 105 steals.

BREMAUD ON THE CAREER CHARTS      
Wichita State junior guard Carla Bremaud comes into the 2021-22 season already in the top 10 for three-pointers attempted in a career at Wichita State. Her 366 three-point attempts place her in sixth and needing 10 more to pass Haleigh Lankster for fifth in school history. Bremaud also passed Jessica Diamond and Shelley Crow for seventh place on the career three-pointers made list. She now has 119 made treys and is three shy of moving into sole possession of sixth place. Bremaud swished  her 100th career three-pointer vs. Cincinnati on Jan. 2.

SHOCKERS PICKED EIGHTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Wichita State was picked to finish eighth in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Shockers garnered 36 points from the league's coaches, just two points behind seventh-place East Carolina. The defending champions, South Florida, was picked to repeat after receiving 10 first place votes and 100 points. UCF (91), Houston (77), Tulane (72) and Temple (69) round out the top five.

STRONG LANDS ON PRESEASON FIRST TEAM
Wichita State senior forward Asia Strong became the first Shocker to earn Preseason All-Conference First Team honors as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The league's coaches voted Strong to the first team after she averaged 15.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game a season ago. Strong was one of six players on the first team, joined by three from South Florida, one from UCF and the preseason Player of the Year, Mia Davis, from Temple.

UP NEXT
Wichita State will begin a three-game road trip beginning with a visit to Wyoming on Nov. 13. From there, the Shockers will face Denver on Nov. 15.