WICHITA STATE (3-10, 0-0 American) at TULSA (8-4, 0-0 American)
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 | 6:30 p.m.
Tulsa, Okla. | Donald W. Reynolds Center
TV: ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Taleya Mayberry
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM, GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State opens American Conference play on the road at Tulsa.
Since joining the American Conference in 2017, Wichita State is 2-6 all-time in conference openers and 0-2 in conference openers against Tulsa. The two wins came in 2022 and 2023. Terry Nooner is 1-1 in American Conference openers.
The Shockers concluded their non-conference slate with a 3-10 record, defeating Lincoln in the season opener and claiming back-to-back wins over Loyola Marymount and Oral Roberts in December.
The Shockers and Golden Hurricane meet for the 35^th time in program history with Wichita State leading the series, 23-11. The Shockers also lead the series in Tulsa, 10-6, but the Golden Hurricane have won the last two meetings.
Jaila Harding is leading the Shockers in scoring with 12.6 points per game, while Abby Cater is chipping in 11.2 per game, including back-to-back season-high performances, leading Wichita State to wins over LMU and Oral Roberts with 23 and 24 points.
Harding is one of the best three-point shooters in the nation, ranking 14^th in made threes with 39 to ranks second in the conference. She ranks eighth in the nation in three-point attempts with 103 and 21^st in threes per game with 3.0.
Cater ranks eighth in the conference in free throw percentage (77.5), shooting a percent 100 percent from the line five times this season, including 5-for-5 against CSU Bakersfield and 8-for-8 in the win over LMU.
Treasure Thompson ranks third in the conference in blocks per game with 1.33 and recorded her 100^th career block in the non-conference finale.
Taya Davis ranks seventh in the conference in assists per game, averaging 3.5.
The Shockers rank third in the American Conference in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 8.0 percent from beyond the arc and are holding opponents to 63.1 points per game.
Wichita State is averaging 23.5 bench points per game.
 
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 and the three wins this season.
Eighty-seven percent of Terry Nooner's wins have come when outrebounding the opponent.
Harding has finished in double figures in 11 of the first 13 games.
Harding has hit two or more threes in 11 of the first 13 games and at least one in 13-straight.
Jaida McDonald has grabbed five or more rebounds in nine of the first 13 games, leading the team in rebounding six times.
A Shocker has yet to finish with double figure rebounds this season.
Jaila Harding is the only Shocker to have started every game this season. Wichita State has tested 10 different starting lineups.
 
THE SHOCKS, IN SHORT
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 but lost its top four scorers.
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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State battled to the final possession, but Middle Tennessee edged the Shockers, 46-45, Saturday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena. In a game defined by grit and defensive effort on both sides, Wichita State (3-10) erased multiple deficits and made it a one-point game late in the fourth quarter, but the Blue Raiders (5-7) held on in the closing seconds in a contest featuring 10 lead changes and four ties. The Shockers trailed 35-27 after three quarters before turning up the pressure defensively and pushing the tempo in the final 10 minutes. Wichita State outscored Middle Tennessee 18-11 in the fourth quarter, fueled by a seven-point spark from Bre'Yon White. A late run cut a 12-point deficit to one, and the Shockers had a chance in the final seconds, but the comeback fell just short. Treasure Thompson led Wichita State on the glass with eight rebounds, adding key defensive plays, including a blocked three pointer with 11 seconds remaining, her 100th career block. Without Abby Cater, who scored 47 points over the last two games and missed the game with a hand injury, Jaila Harding was the lone Shocker to finish in double figures, scoring a game-high 11 points. The Blue Raiders held Harding to just five three-point attempts after averaging 8.2 per game entering the contest. Defensively, Wichita State forced 16 turnovers and held Middle Tennessee to 30.9 percent shooting from the field. The Shockers held a 13-2 advantage in fast-break points, repeatedly converting defense into offense. Middle Tennessee recorded 16 offensive rebounds, scoring 12 second-chance points and was led by Savannah Davis with 10 points and six rebounds, while Blair Baugus chipped in eight points and 12 rebounds.
 
SERIES VS. TULSA
The teams meet for the 35^th time in program history with Wichita State leading the series 23-11 and holding a 10-6 advantage when playing in Tulsa.
 
LAST MEETING
Wichita State fell 58-46 to Tulsa in the 2023-24 regular season finale on March 4 in Charles Koch Arena. Salese Blow led all scoring with 17 points, and Jayla Murray also finished in double figures with 10 points. Ornella Niankan led the Shockers in rebounding with seven.
Tulsa's Delanie Crawford recorded a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double, Mady Cartwright had 14 points, and Hadley Periman recorded eight points and 13 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane. The story of the night was turnovers as Wichita State committed 22 and Tulsa had 23, but the Golden Hurricane were better at capitalizing off those turnovers with 18 points to the Shockers' eight. Tulsa out-rebounded the Shockers 47-37 and scored 15 second-chance points with 13 offensive rebounds. The Golden Hurricane led by as many as 18 in the third quarter, holding the Shockers to just seven points in the period.  Wichita State went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to six in the fourth, but Tulsa held on to claim its 17th win of the season. Despite Tulsa shooting 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from the field in the third quarter, the Shockers held the Golden Hurricane to 33.3 percent in the game. Both teams hit the same number of field goals, shooting 20-for-61 overall, but Tulsa shot 9-for 27 from three as opposed to Wichita State's 3-for-12 from behind the arc.
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE
Led by fifth-year head coach Angie Nelp, Tulsa is 8-4, coming off back-to-back wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Florida to wrap up its non-conference schedule. The Golden Hurricane lead the American Conference in free throw attempts per game (22.67) and made free throws per game (16.75), shooting 73.9 percent from the line. Two players are averaging double figures as Mady Cartwright and Hannah Riddick lead the team with 16.9 and 12.8 points per game, respectively. Riddick also leads the Golden Hurricane in rebounding with 7.0 per game, good for 11^th in the conference. Cartwright is one of the best free throw shooters in the conference, shooting 85.7 percent. She leads the conference in attempts with 63 and made free throws with 54. Cartwright is also the American Conference's second leading scorer. Freshman Dora Toman ranks fifth in the conference in steals per game with 2.08. Tulsa was picked eighth of 13 teams in the American Conference Preseason Poll, and Cartwright was named to the Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
 
SERVING POINTS ON A PLATTER
Abby Cater poured in 47 points over two games, leading the Shockers to back-to-back wins over LMU and Oral Roberts. She shot 11-for-12 from the field against Oral Roberts and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line against LMU.
 
THE MAIN DISH
Taya Davis is described as a true pass-first point guard, leading the Shockers in assists with 3.5 per game.
 
TREY-LA HARDING
Jaila Harding is the best shooter on Wichita State's roster, shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. The graduate transfer and Wichita native ranks third in the conference in threes per game with 3.0, hitting five three different times against Lincoln, Western Kentucky and UC Irvine. Her 39 total threes this season are on track to land her on Wichita State's all-time top-10 list. The record is held by Courtney Sims at 73, while the No. 10 mark is 47, performed by Carla Bremaud and Tisharria Huggins.
 
NON-CONFERENCE IN REVIEW
The Shockers finished their non-conference slate 3-10, opening with a 96-49 win over Lincoln before hitting a nine-game slump. Wichita State got back on track with back-to-back wins over Loyola Marymount and Oral Roberts before falling to Middle Tennessee State in a 45-46 heartbreaker in the non-conference finale. Seven of the 10 losses were single digit games. Jaila Harding and Abby Cater led the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Cater recorded back-to-back 20-plus point performances in the wins over LMU and ORU, and Harding put up 21 at UC Irvine. Jaida McDonald led the Shockers on the boards, averaging 5.1 rebounds per game.
 
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 return home for their conference home opener as they are set to face Tulane on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. on Throwback Night.