[8] Wichita State (16-13, 6-10) vs. [9] Temple (11-17, 6-10)
Monday, March 6, 2023 | 1:00 PM CT | Dickies Arena
ESPN+ | KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM | ShockerStats.com

ON THE AIR
Monday'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
In the regular season finale Wichita State suffered a 62-55 loss at Houston last Wednesday, finishing league play at 6-10. For the second straight game Wichita State shot better than 50 percent from the floor, but the game was won by Houston in the turnover and rebound battles. Houston scored 26 points off 22 Wichita State turnovers and outrebounded the Shockers by six, including 15 offensive rebounds. Wichita State held Houston to 35.5 percent shooting and just 6-of-21 from beyond the arc. Trajata Colbert and Curtessia Dean scored 14 points apiece to lead the offensive attack. Colbert also added seven rebounds and a career-high four steals. Jane Asinde added 11 points and six boards.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Led by first year head coach Diane Richardson, Temple enters Wednesday's matchup at 11-17 this season and 6-10 in American play. The Owls started conference play 5-4, but lost six of their last seven. Temple is led by Aleah Nelson and Tiarra East. Nelson leads the team in scoring (15.2 points) and assists (124), while East adds 11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 47 steals. Nelson is a two-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Temple ranks at the top of the conference in free throw shooting at 73.5 percent. Wichita State and Temple split the regular season series with each team winning at home.

THE SERIES VS. TEMPLE
Wichita State and Temple have met 12 times prior to Monday's matchup, with Temple winning four of the last five meetings. The first ever meeting came all the way back in Nov. 1983 on a nuetral court that Temple won, 83-79. Wichita State snapped a four-game skid against Temple with a win in the regular season home finale just a little over a week ago.

LAST MEETING
Wichita State evened the regular season series with a 79-67 win over the Owls just barely over a week ago in Wichita on Feb. 25. Wichita State shot better than 50 percent from the field and held Temple to 5-of-20 from beyond the arc. Wichita State held the Owls to only eight points in the deciding fourth quarter. On Senior Day, Curtessia Dean poured in a career-high 22 points to go with 10 rebounds. Jane Asinde also finished with 22 points and 10 boards.

TOURNAMENT TIME
Wichita State is set to make its sixth appearance at the American Athletic Conference Championship. The Shockers are the No. 8 seed in the 2023 Championship after earning the No. 6 seed in their inaugural season in 2018, No. 10 seed in 2019, No. 7 seed in 2020 and No. 9 seed in 2021 and 2022. This is the third straight year Wichita State will play in the No. 8/9 game. The matchup with the Owls marks the second time the two programs will meet at the American Athletic Conference Championship. Temple is 1-0 vs. Wichita State at the AAC Championship after defeating the Shockers in 2018.

PAINT POWER
Over Wichita State's last 10 games the duo of Jane Asinde and Trajata Colbert have taken their game to another level. Asinde has five double-doubles and is averaging 16.7 points and 10.1 rebounds, while Colbert is playing the best basketball of her career. During that span Colbert has six double-doubles and is posting 15.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. Combined they are responsible for 32.3 points and 19.0 rebounds over the last 10 outings.

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 53.7 percent of Wichita State's points on the offensive end. On the glass, they combine to pull down 21.6 rebounds a game. On the defensive end, the trio makes up 62.4 percent (141 steals) of the team's steals this season and 61.9 percent (52 blocks) of the team's blocks.

RARE AIR ASINDE
Jane Asinde is one of only three players in the country averaging at least 10.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. DePaul's Annesah Morrow and Texas A&M Corpus Christi's Alecia Westbrook are the only other players putting up those stats in 2022-23.

SEEING DOUBLE
Wichita State senior Jane Asinde is averaging a double-double through 29 games this season at 13.4 points and 10.4 rebounds. The Uganda native is on pace to finish the season with a top 10 single season rebounding mark. Her current 10.4 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 29 games. McCarty has recorded at least one steal in all but five games, and has multiple in 17 of the 29 games. Her 61 steals are the most on the team. Asinde is second on the team with 54 steals and averages 2.00 steals a game and has multiple steals in 15 games this season. They rank 4th and 7th in the American in steals.

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 29 games in 2022-23, she is 99-for-122 (81.1 percent). Colbert ranks sixth in the American in free throw percentage.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Through 29 games Wichita State ranks in the top 70 nationally in the following categories: No. 29 in rebound margin (7.0), No. 32 in free throws made per game (14.66), No. 41 in rebounds per game (40.52), No. 53 in free throw attempts per game (19.72), No. 61 in offensive rebounds per game (13.2), No. 61 in three point defense (28.6) and No. 65 in defensive rebounds per game (27.3). Jane Asinde ranks 18th nationally in rebounds per game, No. 32 in total rebounds and No. 29 in defensive rebounds per game.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 17-13 on the season
... make them 2-0 on a neutral court this season
... be just their third-ever win in the AAC Championship
... move them to 5-8 all-time vs. Temple
... snap a three-game losing streak vs. the Cougars
... bring Keitha Adams' record to 79-91 at Wichita State
... make Adams 363-300 at the Division I level
... run Adams' career coaching record to 490-337
... make Wichita State 649-739 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... make them 16-14 this the season
... drop them to 1-1 on a neutral court this season
... drop them to 2-6 all-time in the AAC First Round
... make them 4-9 all-time vs. Temple
... bring Keitha Adams' record to 78-92 at Wichita State
... make Adams 362-301 at the Division I level
... lower Adams' career coaching record to 489-338
... make Wichita State 648-740 all-time