WICHITA STATE (1-1) at WESTERN KENTUCKY (1-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Bowling Green, Ky. | E.A. Diddle Arena
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
TV: ESPN+
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks for its second win of the season in Bowling Green, Ky. as the Shockers take on Western Kentucky Tuesday evening in E.A. Diddle Arena.
The teams meet for just the second time in program history after the Shockers defeated the Hilltoppers 64-59 last season in Charles Koch Arena.
The Shockers are coming off a 55-42 loss to Northwestern State in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State enters year three of the Terry Nooner era with four returners and 11 newcomers.
The Shockers return just 9.6 percent of their scoring from last season but bring an abundance of experience to the court with eight graduate students on the roster, tying ULM for the most graduate players on a Division I roster this season.
With only one underclassman on the roster, the Shockers are 93 percent upperclassmen, the second-highest percentage of upperclassmen in the NCAA (DI), and they bring 44 seasons of combined collegiate basketball experience.
Wichita State returns Bre'Yon White, the Shockers' second leading rebounder from last season, who grabbed 154 boards, averaging 4.8 per game.
For the third-straight season, Nooner has brought a Wichita native home for their final season of collegiate basketball – Tre'Zure Jobe in 2023-24, Taylor Jameson in 2024-25, and now Jaila Harding, who shot 35.7 percent from behind the arc both of her last two seasons at New Mexico State.
Abby Cater and Jaila Harding are leading the Shockers in scoring with 13.5 points per game, and Cater and Diamond Richardson are leading Wichita State in rebounding with 6.5 per game.
The Shockers lead the American Conference in steals per game, averaging 13.5 and ranking second in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 27.9 percent.
Through two games, Harding leads the conference in three point attempts and ranks second in made threes with seven total.
Taya Davis ranks fourth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 5.0.
Cater ranks eighth in the conference in field goal percentage (52.4 percent).
 
STREAKS & TRENDS
All but two wins in the Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points, including nine of the 10 wins last season.
Ninety percent of Terry Nooner's wins have come when outrebounding the opponent.
Abby Cater and Jaila Harding have finished in double figures in two-straight games.
Harding has hit more than one three pointer in each of the first two games.
Cater and Jaida McDonald have each grabbed five or more rebounds in each of the first two games.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State fell 55-42 to Northwestern State in game two of the 2025-26 season Thursday night inside Charles Koch Arena.

The Shockers battled back late but couldn't overcome a cold shooting night, finishing 15-for-58 (25.9%) from the field and 5-for-26 (19.2%) from beyond the arc. Northwestern State shot 32.3% overall and 33.3% from long range to build an early lead and hold off WSU's second-half push.
 
Wichita State had five assists and 25 turnovers after opening the season against Lincoln with 24 assists.
 
Graduate guard Abby Cater paced Wichita State with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting and added six rebounds after picking up two early fouls in the first quarter. Jaila Harding chipped in 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and Sophie Benharouga led the Shockers on the glass with nine rebounds.
 
Wichita State trailed 19-8 after the first quarter and went into halftime down 31-18. Northwestern State's Vernell Atamah fueled the visitors' offense with 25 points, including seven made threes, while Clarence Djuela led the game in rebounding with 12.
 
The Demons led by as many as 22 before the Shockers outscored Northwestern State 16-8 in the final period, showing resilience down the stretch, but the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
 
Wichita State won the battle of the boards, 48-39, including 17 offensive rebounds, but turnovers (25) and a slow start from the field kept the Shockers from closing the gap.
 
Despite outrebounding the Demons, Wichita State only scored five second chance points off 17 offensive rebounds while Northwestern State scored 10 points off 12 offensive rebounds.
 
SERIES VS. WESTERN KENTUCKY
The teams meet for just the second time in program history with Wichita State leading 1-0.
 
LAST MEETING
Four Shockers finished in double figures as Wichita State handed Western Kentucky its first loss of the season, 64-59, on Dec. 8, 2024. 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. The Shockers out-rebounded the Toppers 52-42 as Ornella Niankan tied her season high with eight, and Ella Anciaux had seven. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.


C.A.R.E. PILLARS
Coach Nooner emphasizes the value of team culture, recruiting student-athletes who fit in with the team's core values of character, accountability, respect and effort.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
Wichita State's roster features four foreign players, two from France, Sophie Benharouga and Fiona Diomande, one from Mali, Maimouna Sissoko, and one from Cameroon, Bella Belong.
 
THEY HAVE HISTORY
Two newcomers reconnect with former coaches as Taya Davis played for current Wichita State assistant coach Antwain Scales from 2022-23 in his final season as head coach at Garden City CC, and Sophie Benharouga played for current director of operations and assistant coach Uyen Tran from 2022-23 while she was an assistant coach at Morehead State.
 
UP NEXT
The Shockers travel to Kansas City, Mo. for the 28.5 Hoops Women's Invitational where they will face Missouri State on Saturday, Nov. 15 in the T-Mobile Center.