NORTHWESTERN STATE (0-1) at WICHITA STATE (1-0)
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracy Anderson
Thirsty Thursday: discounted drinks at the concession stand all night long
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks to improve to 2-0 as they take on Northwestern State Thursday night in Charles Koch Arena.
The Shockers are coming off a 96-42 season-opening win over Lincoln at home on Monday, when Jaila Harding led all scoring with 17 points, shooting 5-for-9 from behind the arc and Taya Davis led the game in assists with nine to open the season 1-0 for the second-straight season.
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.
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.
Wichita State returns Bre'Yon White, the Shockers' second leading rebounder from last season, who grabbed 154 boards, averaging 4.8 per game.
After game one, Wichita State leads the conference in assists with 24, led by Taya Davis, who leads the conference with nine and ranks 10^th in the nation.
The Shockers also lead the conference in steals with 21 and forced 31 turnovers in their first game against Lincoln. Wichita State's 21 steals in the season opener was a Charles Koch Arena record.
Jaila Harding ranks second in the conference in three pointers with five.
 
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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State women's basketball opened the 2025–26 season in emphatic fashion Monday night, rolling past Lincoln 96–42 in Charles Koch Arena.
 
The Shockers shot 57 percent from the field and forced 31 turnovers en route to their largest margin of victory since 2022.
 
Graduate guard and Wichita native Jaila Harding led a balanced Shocker attack with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including five three-pointers. Sophie Benharouga added 15 points off the bench, while Abby Cater and Taya Davis each chipped in 12 and 7 points, respectively, with Davis dishing out a game-high nine assists. 
 
In total, 12 Shockers found the scoring column and six finished with at least eight points. Wichita State's bench poured in 50 points, and the Shockers turned Lincoln's miscues into 39 points off turnovers.
 
Wichita State jumped out to a 26–12 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back, extending the margin to 56–19 by halftime behind a 30-point second period fueled by stifling defense and crisp ball movement. The Shockers' defense held Lincoln to just 22 percent shooting for the game, including 17 percent from beyond the arc, and recorded 24 steals, the most in a single game by a Shocker team since 2020.
 
The Shockers dominated the paint 54–12 and ran the floor effectively, outscoring the Blue Tigers 26–5 in fast-break points.
 
Jaida McDonald added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Bre'Yon White filled the stat sheet with eight points, four rebounds, and four steals. Maimouna Sissoko added nine points and seven rebounds for the Shockers.
 
SCOUTING THE DEMONS
The teams meet for the fourth time in program history with Wichita State leading the series 3-0, all three wins at home.
 
LAST MEETING
DJ McCarty scored all 16 of her points after halftime to fend off a feisty Northwestern State squad, 70-61, on Nov. 29, 2021 in Charles Koch Arena.

Wichita State picked up its third straight win despite an off shooting night. The Shockers shot 34 percent from the field but knocked down nine three-pointers.

McCarty caught fire late in the third quarter and to start to the fourth, cashing in a career-high five triples to put an end to NSU's upset bid. Trajata Colbert just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. She scored nine of her 14 in the second half.

Carla Bremaud added a season-high 12 points behind 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jane Asinde registered her third consecutive double-double, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds, all but one rebound coming in the first half.

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 head to Bowling Green, Ky. to take on Western Kentucky on Tuesday, Nov. 11 in E.A. Diddle Arena.