WICHITA STATE (4-6) at LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (6-1)
Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 | 4:00 p.m. CT
Los Angeles, Calif. | Gersten Pavilion
TV:Â ESPN+ with Brendan Craig and Gary Craig
Radio:Â Audacy.com/KFH with Pat StrathmanÂ
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State hits the road for a three-game road stretch to wrap up non-conference play, beginning with Loyola Marymount.
A win would be the Shockers' first of the season outside of Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State is 1-0 against LMU, winning in 2022.
The Shockers are 1-0 on Sunday this season.
The Shockers won two-straight home games for the first time this season with wins over Prairie View A&M and Western Kentucky.
Bre'Yon White recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win over WKU. She has led the Shockers in rebounding six times.
Wichita State has entered year two of the
Terry Nooner era, and the Shockers return their leading scorer from conference play, sophomore
Salese Blow. With nine newcomers on the team, the Shockers return just 37.6 percent of their scoring.
Blow has led the Shockers in scoring in three games with 16 points against Belmont, 17 against Missouri State, and 13 in the win over Western Kentucky.
George Mason transfer and Wichita native
Taylor Jameson came home for her final season of collegiate basketball and is making a splash early in the season. She finished in double figures in each of the first five games and restarted the streak at Kansas. Jameson has led the Shockers in scoring three times and assists six times.
Redshirt-junior
Jayla Murray has led the Shockers in scoring three times with one double-double. She has finished in double figures six times.
Junior
Princess Anderson has been a spark plug off the bench for the Shockers, leading the team in scoring with 17 and 16 points against Prairie View A&M and Kansas.
Wichita State ranks second in the American Athletic Conference in bench points per game with 22.2.
All four wins this season have come when the Shockers outrebounded their opponent and led after the first half.
The Shockers rank 79
th in the NCAA in rebounds per game with 40.4.
Jameson ranks fifth in the AAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.64), sixth in total assists (36) and eighth in assists per game (3.6).
All but one win in the
Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points.
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STREAKS
Taylor Jameson's five-game stretch in double figures ended against Creighton, but she restarted the streak against Kansas and Western Kentucky.
Bre'Yon White has finished with five or more rebounds in each of the last three games, and
Ella Anciaux has in the last two.
Wichita State has out-rebounded its opponents in each of the last three games.
Jameson has hit at least one three pointer in each of the last four games and multiple three pointers in the last two-straight games.
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LAST TIME OUT
Four Shockers finished in double figures as Wichita State handed Western Kentucky its first loss of the season, 64-59, Sunday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
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Junior
Bre'Yon White led the Shockers with her first career double-double, putting up a career-high 12 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 6-for-8 from the field (.750). Sophomore
Salese Blow recorded a team-high 13 points and grabbed a season-high six rebounds,
Jayla Murray finished with 12 points, and
Taylor Jameson scored 10.
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The Shockers out-rebounded the Toppers 52-42 as
Ornella Niankan tied her season high with eight, and
Ella Anciaux had seven.
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Wichita State held Western Kentucky to just 28.4 percent (21-for-74) shooting, including a 1-for-17 second quarter where the Toppers only scored four points, the least by a Shocker opponent in a quarter this year.
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Wichita State took an early four-point lead in the first quarter, but a 10-0 run by Western Kentucky put the Toppers up six before Anciaux made a putback in the final possession of the quarter to make it 15-11 Toppers. The Toppers scored 12 of their points off seven Shocker turnovers and hit three threes.
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The Shockers held Western Kentucky to just four points in the second quarter as Wichita State went on a 14-0 run, holding WKU scoreless for over eight minutes to take a 28-19 lead going into halftime.
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Jameson was 3-for-3 from three in the second period to record her second-straight game and fourth game this season with three or more threes.
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Western Kentucky started to chip away at the Shockers' lead in the second half, coming within two twice in the fourth quarter, but a 6-0 run courtesy of White, Murray and
KP Parr helped the Shockers hang on down the stretch.
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The Shockers have now won two-straight home games for the first time since Nov. 8 and Nov. 20 in 2023.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Led by fourth-year head coach Aarika Hughes, LMU is on a six-game win streak after dropping its season opener to reigning Mountain West Conference champion, UNLV. The Lions' six wins were over Bethesda, South Dakota, Utah Valley, Cal State Fullerton, LIFE Pacific and San Jose State. UNLV was the Lions' only opponent who currently ranks in the top 200 in the NET Rankings, coming in at 52 this week. LMU was picked 10th of 11 teams in the West Coast Conference Preseason Poll. Three Lions are averaging double figures with senior guard Naudia Evans leading the team with 15.6 points per game. Evans also ranks second in the NCAA in assists per game with 7.7, leading the WCC. Sophomore forward Maya Hernandez leads the Lions in rebounding with 6.7 per game, blocks with 1.0 per game and steals with 2.3 per game and ranks second in the WCC in field goal percentage (55.1). Senior guard Brandi Williams is also averaging double figures for the Lions with 12.6 points per game.
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SERIES VS. LMU
The two teams have only met once before, when Wichita State claimed a 69-57 victory on Nov. 26, 2022 during the LMU Thanksgiving Classic in Los Angeles.
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LAST MEETING
Wichita State picked up its fourth straight win and wrapped up the LMU Thanksgiving Classic 2-0 after defeating Loyola Marymount, 69-57, on Nov. 26, 2022. Jane Asinde recorded her second straight 20-point game and third double-double of the season behind 22 points, 15 rebounds and four steals. Nhugh Bosch Duran set a new career high with 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
DJ McCarty was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, finishing with 14 points and three steals. Curtessian Dean chipped in 12 points.
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LMU's Layla Curry and Ava Toone are the only returners from either team from the meeting two seasons ago. Each played three minutes last time around.
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LEADING LADIES
Through 10 games,
Jayla Murray leads the Shockers in scoring with 10.7 points per game.
Taylor Jameson and
Salese Blow are also averaging double figures with 10.5 and 10.1 per game.
Bre'Yon White is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.1 rebounds per game, and
Ella Anciaux has led the Shockers in rebounding in two of the last four games.
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DOUBLE TROUBLE
Entering the season, no Shockers on the roster had ever recorded a Division I double-double.
Jayla Murray and
Bre'Yon White have each logged their firsts, Murray's in the season opener and White's in the win over WKU.
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NOT SO NEW-COMERS
Between the nine new additions to the 2024-25 Wichita State roster, they combine for 20 years of collegiate basketball experience. Nooner brought in three Division I transfers:Â
Taylor Jameson from George Mason,Â
Aicha Ndour from Illinois andÂ
Bre'Yon White from TCU.
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Princess Anderson (Pratt CC),Â
Kyleigh Ortiz (Coffeyville CC),Â
Jasmine Peaks (Indian River State), andÂ
Maimouna Sissoko (Cloud County CC) all transferred from junior colleges, joiningÂ
Jayla Murray (Florida SouthWestern State) andÂ
Ornella Niankan (Odessa College) to make six Shockers who began their careers in the NJCAA.
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#BREMODE
Junior
Bre'Yon White recorded her first career double-double in the win over Western Kentucky and has led the Shockers in rebounding six times. She has finished in double figures twice this season, her first time in double figures in her career.
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T-TIME
Wichita native
Taylor Jameson was named to the AAC weekly Honorable Mention list on Nov. 18 after averaging 17 points, 6.5 assists and 4 steals in two games. She has led the Shockers in scoring three times and assists six times and has finished in double figures seven times. Jameson has hit at least one three pointer in each of the last four games and has hit three three pointers in four games.
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BOBO DA SHOW
Salese Blow, nicknamed BoBo by her mom when Salese couldn't pronounce the L in her last name as a kid, enters her sophomore season after claiming three American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week awards in 2023-24. As a freshman, she increased her scoring from non-conference to conference play, leading the Shockers in points per game against AAC opponents with 13.5. She recorded 21 double-figure scoring games with five 20+ point performances.
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MURRAY ON THE RISE
Redshirt-junior
Jayla Murray is back and better than ever after a summer spent in the gym and improving her nutrition. Further removed from her ACL injury, Murray, who averaged 7.1 points per game a season ago, is playing with more confidence. She has led the Shockers in scoring three times (against No. 9 Oklahoma, Creighton and Prairie View A&M) and recorded her first career double-double in the home opener against Oklahoma Christian.
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P3
Princess Anderson had a breakout game in the win over Prairie View A&M, scoring a Division I career-high 17 points, recording four steals and grabbing five rebounds. She was also a spark plug for the Shockers against Belmont, hitting three three pointers and finishing with 12 points. She led the Shockers again at Kansas with 16 points off the bench. She averaged 26.7 points per game as a sophomore at Pratt CC, leading the NJCAA in scoring.
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NEW HEIGHTS
Senior transfer from Illinois,
Aicha Ndour, is the tallest player in Wichita State history at 6-6.
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INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The Shockers' roster features international athletes from five different countries, including Canada (
Ornella Niankan), France (
Fiona Diomande), Mali (
Maimouna Sissoko), Mozambique (
Carla Budane), and Senegal (
Aicha Ndour).
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SUMMER WELL SPENT
The Shockers embarked on a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands from July 28-August 2, where they played two games against Canadian team, Regina. The trip allowed the team to bond and experience a different culture, growing as a unit on and off the court. Wichita State won the first game 81-76 and the second game 69-60.
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