Wichita State (13-8, 3-5) at Temple (9-11, 4-4)
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023 | 6:00 PM CT | Liacouras Center
ESPN+ | KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM | ShockerStats.com

ON THE AIR
Wednesday's game can be heard on the radio at KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM with Steve Strain calling the action. Strain is in his ninth season as the radio voice for Wichita State women's basketball. The game will also be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State recorded its first conference road win on Saturday at Cincinnati with a 69-50 win against the Bearcats. Wichita State completed the regular season sweep of Cincinnati and picked up its fourth straight win against the Bearcats. Wichita State led by as many as 24 in the second half and never trailed in the game. After committing a season-high 27 turnovers against ECU, Wichita State regrouped and only had nine - a season low. Jane Asinde and Ambah Kowcun combined for 45 of Wichita State's 69 points. Asinde picked up her seventh double-double behind a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds. Ambah Kowcun returned after missing the previous three games and dropped a career-high 22 on Cincinnati. Kowcun was career-best 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Led by first year head coach Diane Richardson, Temple enters Wednesday's matchup at 9-11 this season and 4-4 in American play. Temple is led by a three-headed scoring attack in Aleah Nelson, Tiarra East and Jasha Clinton. Nelson leads the team in scoring (15.7 points) and assists (80), while East adds 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds and Clinton chips in 11.1 points and 53 assists. Nelson is a two-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Week and shoots 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. As a team, Temple leads the American Athletic Conference in free throw shooting at 75.1 percent.

THE SERIES VS. TEMPLE
Wichita State and Temple have met 10 times prior to Wednesday's matchup, with Temple winning the last three meetings. The first ever meeting came all the way back in Nov. 1983 on a nuetral court that Temple won, 83-79. Wichita State is 1-3 vs. the Owls in Philadelphia.

LAST MEETING
Wichita State and Temple met only one time a season ago - a matchup in Philadelphia that the Owls won, 70-49, on Feb. 2, 2022. Wichita State was outscored by 11 in the second quarter, and then by eight in the fourth, as Temple ran away with the win. Wichita State committed 19 turnovers and shot only 31.7 percent from the floor. Temple outrebounded the Shockers by 13, including 22 offensive rebounds. Jane Asinde recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Nhug Bosch Duran added 12 points and Shamaryah Duncan chipped in 11.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Wichita State boasts a top 70 defense through the first 21 games of the season. They have held all but eight opponents to less than 38 percent shooting, and only six teams have shot better than 32 percent from three-point range. Wichita State's field goal defense is holding teams to just 36.9 percent, good for 48th nationally. Opponents are connecting on only 28.8 percent of their attempts from long range. Wichita State has held nine opponents under 60 points, including four under 50.

TALENTED TRIO
Jane Asinde, DJ McCarty and Trajata Colbert are forming a potent trio for the Shockers. All three are averaging double figures on the season and combine for 50.9 percent of Wichita State's points on the offensive end. On the glass, they combine to pull down 21.4 rebounds a game. On the defensive end, the trio makes up 62.0 percent (101 steals) of the team's steals this season and 56.3 percent (36 blocks) of the team's blocks.

KOWCUN IS KOOKIN'
Junior Ambah Kowcun is heating up at the right time for Wichita State. Over her last four games, she is averaging 13.3 points on 57.1 percent shooting (16-for-28) and 60 percent from three-point range (12-for-20). The Australia sharpshooter is coming off a season-high 22 points at Cincinnati on Jan. 28 behind 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.

SEEING DOUBLE
Wichita State senior Jane Asinde is averaging a double-double through 21 games this season at 11.9 points and 10.7 rebounds. The Uganda native is on pace to finish the season with a top 10 single season rebounding mark. Her current 10.7 boards per game would rank as the 8th most in school history. She is also trying to become the first Shocker to average a double-double over the course of a season since Antionette Wells during the 2006-07 season when she posted 13.0 points and 10.4 rebounds.

WANTED FOR THEFT
Junior guard DJ McCarty and senior forward Jane Asinde have been a pest on defense for opposing offenses through 21 games. McCarty has recorded at least one steal in all but three games, and has multiple in 13 of the 21 games. Her 46 steals are the most on the team. Asinde is second on the team with 39 steals and averages 2.11 steals a game and has multiple steals in 11 games this season. They rank 3rd and 5th, respectively, in the American in steals per game.

COLBERT CASHING IN      
Trajata Colbert has improved dramatically the last two years at the free throw line. The Georgia native began her career shooting 42.1 percent as a freshman, 61.1 percent as a sophomore and 50.9 percent as a COVID sophomore. In 2021-22 she shot a career-high 76.0 percent and so far through 20 games in 2022-23, she is 62-for-77 (80.5 percent). Colbert ranks fifth in the American in free throw percentage.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Through 21 games Wichita State ranks in the top 70 nationally in the following categories: No. 23 in rebound margin (7.9), No. 44 in rebounds per game (40.81), No. 48 in field goal percentage defense (36.9), No. 56 in free throws made per game (14.0), No. 60 in fouls per game (15.0), No. 68 in defensive rebounds per game (27.4) and No. 70 in offensive rebounds (13.4). Jane Asinde ranks 13th nationally in rebounds per game, No. 26 in total rebounds and No. 24 in defensive rebounds per game.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 14-8 on the season
... make them 4-5 in conference play
... make them 4-5 on the road this season
... move them to 4-7 all-time vs. Temple
... snap a three-game losing streak vs. the Owls
... bring Keitha Adams' record to 76-86 at Wichita State
... make Adams 360-295 at the Division I level
... run Adams' career coaching record to 487-332
... make Wichita State 646-734 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... make them 13-9 this the season
... make them 3-6 in conference play
... drop them to 4-6 on the road this season
... make them 3-8 all-time vs. Temple
... be their fourth straight loss against the Owls
... bring Keitha Adams' record to 75-87 at Wichita State
... make Adams 359-296 at the Division I level
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 486-333
... make Wichita State 645-735 all-time

UP NEXT
Wichita State opens its home schedule for the month of February on Saturday, Feb. 4 vs. Memphis for National Girls and Women in Sports Day.