WICHITA STATE (6-8, 0-1 AAC) at MEMPHIS (2-9, 0-0 AAC)
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 | 3:00 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. | Elma Roane Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Pat Strathman 
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State faces its first AAC road test, taking on Memphis Wednesday afternoon in Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
The Shockers have a chance to tie the all-time series as Memphis leads 6-5.
Wichita State is 3-2 against Memphis on the road.  The Shockers won the last meeting between the two programs a season ago in Wichita.
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 five games and recorded her first 20-plus point game of the season with 23 against CSUB, making six career 20-point performances for the sophomore.
Redshirt-junior Jayla Murray led the Shockers in scoring during non-conference play, averaging 11.7 points per game with one double-double. She has finished in double figures eight times and was named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honorable mention player of the week list after her performance in the win over LMU. In the win over CSUB, she put up a career-high 19 points.
Junior Princess Anderson has been a spark plug off the bench for the Shockers, leading the team in scoring three times with a Division I career high 17 points in the win over Prairie View A&M.
Graduate transfer and Wichita native Taylor Jameson returned home for her final season of college basketball and has led the Shockers in scoring four times. In the conference opener against North Texas, she hit five threes on her way to 17 points.
Wichita State ranks second in the American Athletic Conference in bench points per game with 22.4 and third in the conference in rebounds per game with 40.7.
Murray ranks second in the AAC in field goal percentage (53.7 percent).
Jameson ranks seventh in the AAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.45).
Aicha Ndour ranks 15^th in the AAC in blocks per game with 0.9.
All six wins this season have come when the Shockers outrebounded their opponent and led after the first half.
All but one win in the Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points, including all six wins this season.
 
STREAKS
Taylor Jameson has hit at least one three pointer in each of the last eight games.
Jayla Murray and Salese Blow have both finished in double figures in five-straight games.
Murray has recorded five or more rebounds in each of the last four games.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State battled back from down 14 to make it a one-point game in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Mean Green in the American Athletic Conference opener Sunday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
 
Taylor Jameson hit five threes on her way to a 17-point performance to lead all scoring. Jayla Murray and Salese Blow also finished in double figures for the Shockers with 14 and 10 points, respectively, and Bre'Yon White led Wichita State in rebounding for the seventh time this season with nine. Jameson had a season-high six boards.
 
Desiree Wooten led the Mean Green with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Tommisha Lampkin had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
 
The Shockers shot just 29.2 percent (19-for-65) from the floor and 42.9 percent from the free throw line (9-for-21) but had their best three-point shooting day of the season hitting 9-for-19 (47.4 percent).
 
Wichita State held North Texas to 2-for-17 (.118) from behind the arc, the lowest three-point percentage of a Shocker opponent this season.
 
Averaging just 4.9 three pointers per game coming into the contest, the Shockers opened the game with three in the first five minutes courtesy of Murray (2) and Blow (1). The first quarter saw three lead changes and three ties, and the Shockers led by five before the Mean Green took a four-point lead at the end of the quarter and never again relinquished the lead.
 
The Shockers struggled offensively in the second quarter, shooting just 2-for-14 (.143), while the Mean Green went on a 13-3 run to go into halftime up 14.
 
After halftime, Jameson hit her third three of the afternoon before picking Jaaucklyn Moore's pocket and dishing it to Blow for her to drain another three, cutting the deficit to eight midway through the third quarter. A pair of layups from Jasmine Peaks sparked some momentum for the Shockers in the fourth, Jameson hit her fifth three of the day to make it a one-point game with a little over three minutes remaining.
 
North Texas's Wooten and Tommisha Lampkin didn't let the Shockers gain the lead, scoring seven-straight for the Mean Green and stretching the lead back to 10. Murray made two second-chance layups down the stretch, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Mean Green.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Led by seventh-year (second at Memphis) head coach Alex Simmons, Memphis is 2-9 going into conference play. Five Tigers are averaging double figures, led by senior guard Tilly Boler with 16.6 points per game. DeDee Hagemann (16.0), Alasia Smith (11.6), Hannah Riddick (11.5) and Tanyuel Welch (10.6) join her in double figures. Riddick is the team's leading rebounder with 8.0 per game. Hagemann leads the NCAA in minutes per game with 37.55. Boler ranks second in the conference in field goal attempts, and Boler ranks second in the conference in steals per game with 2.2. The Tigers were picked seventh of 13 teams in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll.
 
SERIES VS. MEMPHIS
The two teams meet for the 12 time in program history with Memphis leading the series 6-5, but Wichita State holds a 3-2 advantage when facing the Tigers in Memphis.
 
LAST MEETING
Four Shockers finished in double figures as Wichita State snapped its four-game losing streak, defeating Memphis, 71-66, on Jan. 17, 2024. Daniela Abies recorded her third double-double of the season, leading the Shockers with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She shot 9-for-11 (.818) from the field. Tre'Zure Jobe finished the game with 17 points, Jayla Murray tied her then career high with 12, and Salese Blow scored 11 for the Shockers. The Shockers dominated the paint, scoring 50 points inside.

The WIchita State defense held Memphis (5-12, 1-5 AAC) to just 24-for-69 (.348) from the field and 3-for-19 (.158) from three. The Shockers contained Memphis's Madison Griggs, who averaged 17.3 points per game coming into the night, to just 11 points, and Wichita State won the battle of the boards, 47-35.
 
WWW
The Shockers won three-straight games for the first time in the Terry Nooner era, beating Prairie View A&M, LMU and CSU Bakersfield.
 
LEADING LADIES
Through 14 games, Jayla Murray leads the Shockers in scoring with 11.9 points per game. Salese Blow and Taylor Jameson are also averaging double figures with 11.5 and 10.1 per game, respectively. Princess Anderson has also been crucial for the Shockers off the bench with 7.5 points per game. Bre'Yon White is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game, and Murray is averaging 5.4.
 
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.
 
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: Taylor Jameson from George Mason, Aicha Ndour from Illinois and Bre'Yon White from TCU.
 
Princess Anderson (Pratt CC), Kyleigh Ortiz (Coffeyville CC), Jasmine Peaks (Indian River State), and Maimouna Sissoko (Cloud County CC) all transferred from junior colleges, joining Jayla Murray (Florida SouthWestern State) and Ornella Niankan (Odessa College) to make six Shockers who began their careers in the NJCAA.
 
#BREMODE
Junior Bre'Yon White recorded her first career double-double in the win over Western Kentucky and has led the Shockers in rebounding seven times. She has finished in double figures twice this season, her first time in double figures in her career.
 
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 nine times. Jameson has hit at least one three pointer in each of the last eight games and has hit multiple threes eight times.
 
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. She has finished in double figures nine times this season with one 20+ point game, leading the team in scoring five times and being named to the AAC weekly honorable mention player of the week list once.
 
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 four times and recorded her first career double-double in the home opener against Oklahoma Christian.
 
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 and at Oral Roberts with 13. She averaged 26.7 points per game as a sophomore at Pratt CC, leading the NJCAA in scoring.
 
NEW HEIGHTS
Senior transfer from Illinois, Aicha Ndour, is the tallest player in Wichita State history at 6-6.
 
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).
 
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.