WICHITA STATE (5-9, 1-1 AAC) at UTSA (6-7, 0-2 AAC)
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 | 2 p.m. CT
San Antonio, Texas | Convocation Center
TV: ESPN+ with Karl Schoening and Carlie Heineman
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Steve Strain  OPENING TIPS
> Wichita State continues its Texas road trip in San Antonio, taking on UTSA on Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
> The Shockers seek their first road win of the season as they are currently 0-4 in true road games.
> The teams meet for the 7^th time and first since 2012 with Wichita State leading 5-1.
> The Shockers have won the last three straight against the Roadrunners, most recently claiming a 50-36 win on Nov. 18, 2012 in Charles Koch Arena.
> Senior transfer from Miami (OH) Sierra Morrow made her long-awaited Shocker debut against Kansas after her NCAA transfer waiver was finally approved. She tied for a team-high 12 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds off the bench. In her third game of the season, she scored a career-high 29 points against Oral Roberts to land herself on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll.
> Tre'Zure Jobe was named AAC Player of the Week on Jan. 1 following her 21 points, 8 assists and 2 steals against Tulane and went on to record her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.
> Four Shockers are averaging double-digit scoring with Jobe leading the team with 12.6 points per game and Morrow averaging 12.2, Daniela Abies averaging 12.0 and Salese Blow averaging 10.4.
> Jobe has started all 125 games of her collegiate career, including her five years at Emporia State.
> Jobe is ranked 69^th in the nation in field goal attempts and 136^th in steals.
> Abies is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.1 rebounds per game with one double-double (18 pts, 11 reb) against Akron. Morrow is also recording 4.8 rebounds per game.
> Abies has finished in double figures in nine of 14 games with three 18-point games and a career-high 19 against Oral Roberts.
> Wichita State ranks in the top 100 nationally in the following categories: No. 33 in three-point percentage defense (25.9), No. 37 in free throw attempts per game (20.9), and No. 95 in free throws made per game (13.2).
> The Shockers are ranked second in the American Athletic Conference in free throw attempts per game and fourth in three-point percentage defense.
> First-year head coach Terry Nooner has only one returning starter, DJ McCarty.
> Wichita State returns just 34.7 percent of its scoring from a season ago, having lost its top two leading scorers and three other triple-digit point scorers. Trajata Colbert and Curtessia Dean exhausted their eligibility, and three of the top six scorers departed through the transfer portal.
> Wichita State has only two true freshmen on the roster in Salese Blow (Texas) and Sophia Goncalves (California).
> Blow has scored in double figures four times with a career-high 20 points against Dayton and got her first collegiate start at Belmont. She has led the team in scoring in four games, most recently scoring 16 points at Rice.
> Blow claimed the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week award on Nov. 27 following her 19 points in the win over Omaha and career-high 20 points against Dayton, leading the team in scoring in both contests.
> DJ McCarty is 120 points away from 1,000 career points.
> Morrow is 9 blocks away from 100 career blocks.

SCOUTING UTSA
> Led by 16^th-year head coach Karen Aston (third at UTSA), UTSA (6-7, 0-2 AAC) is coming off two AAC road losses to Temple, 58-71, and East Carolina, 54-82). Terry Nooner coached under Aston at Texas during the 2019-20 season. The Longhorns were 19-11 before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
> The Roadrunners are 2-2 at home with their wins coming against New Mexico State and UTEP.
> Two Roadunners are averaging double-digit scoring with Sidney Love leading the team with 10.9 points per game and Elyssa Coleman averaging 10.4.
> Idaro Udo was named AAC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 26 following her 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench in UTSA's win over Seattle U.
> Sydney Love, Aysia Proctor and Kyra White have also landed on the AAC Honor Roll this season.
> Elyssa Coleman leads the conference and ranks 55^th in the nation in blocks per game with 1.7.
> Kyra White ranks in the top 100 in the nation in assists and assists per game.
> UTSA was picked eighth of 14 teams in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll and currently sits in 13th at 4-9 (0-2 AAC).

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UTSA
> The teams meet for the 7^th time and first since 2012 with Wichita State leading 5-1.
> The Shockers have won the last three straight, most recently claiming a 50-36 win on Nov. 18, 2012 in Charles Koch Arena.
> Wichita State's only loss to the Roadrunners came in 2007.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES
> Wichita State faced three first-time foes in the non-conference docket, Presbyterian, Belmont and Dayton.
> The Shockers opened their season against No. 23 Oklahoma.
> Belmont (MVC) and Southeastern Louisiana (Southland) were picked to win their respective leagues.
> The Shockers' played two games against teams that finished inside the Top 50 of last year's NCAA NET Rankings (Kansas – 30 and Oklahoma – 38).

LAST TIME OUT
> Turnovers troubled Wichita State as the Shockers fell 76-64 to Rice Wednesday evening in the Fertitta Center.
> The Shockers committed 24 turnovers in their first American Athletic Conference loss of the season, while Rice opened their conference slate with a win.
> Tre'Zure Jobe recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Salese Blow led the Shockers in scoring, tying for a game-high 16 points in her third career start.
> Daniela Abies also finished in double figures for the ninth time this year, tallying 14 points and nine rebounds.
> Five Owls finished in double figures, led by Dominique Ennis with a game-high 17 points.
> The Shockers were only down three at halftime after going on a 10-2 run to close the gap on an 11-point deficit to finish the second quarter.
> Wichita State came out swinging in the second half, scoring the first five points to take a two-point lead, but its third quarter woes returned as the Owls scored 12 points off eight turnovers, outscoring the Shockers 20-13 to go into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead.
> Turnovers continued to plague the Shockers in the fourth quarter as Rice's lead didn't drop below nine despite an eight-point effort by Blow in the final period.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... make them 6-9 on the season
... give them their first true road win of the season
... improve their record to 6-1 all-time against UTSA
... bring Terry Nooner's record to 6-9 at Wichita State
... make Wichita State 656-749 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... make them 5-10 on the season
... make them 0-5 on the road this season
... drop their record to 5-2 all-time against UTSA
... bring Terry Nooner's record to 5-10 at Wichita State
... make Wichita State 655-750 all-time

UP NEXT
Wichita State returns home to play Temple (7-7, 1-1 AAC) Tuesday, Jan. 9 at Charles Koch Arena.