WICHITA STATE (1-8) vs MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE (5-5)
Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 | 6:00 p.m.
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman

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OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks to snap an eight-game losing streak Friday against Maryland Eastern Shore in The Roundhouse
The Shockers and the Hawks meet for the first ever time in program history.
The Shockers are coming off a 43-83 loss to undefeated Texas Tech, who is receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today/WBCA Polls.
Jaila Harding is leading the Shockers in scoring with 13.1 points per game, while Abby Cater is averaging 9.2 points per game and Treasure Thompson is chipping in 6.6 points per game.
Maimouna Sissoko leads Wichita State on the boards with 5.0 rebounds per game and earned a spot in the starting lineup the last three games.
The Shockers rank fourth in the American Conference in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 38.4 percent shooting.
Wichita State is averaging 9.2 steals per game, recording 21 in its win over Lincoln, good for fifth in the American.
Through nine games, Harding ranks 11^th in the nation in made threes with 28, leading the conference with 3.11 per game.
Taya Davis ranks fifth in the conference in total assists with 36 and sixth in assists per game, averaging 4.0.
Abby Cater ranks fourth in the conference in total steals with 19, averaging 2.11 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.
Ninety percent of Terry Nooner's wins have come when outrebounding the opponent.
Harding has finished in double figures in eight of the first nine games, including the last three straight.
Harding has hit two or more threes in eight of the first nine games and at least one in nine-straight.
Taya Davis has dished two or more assists in six of the first nine games.
Maimouna Sissoko has collected five or more rebounds in five games, including the last four straight, leading the Shockers in rebounding four times.
Jaida McDonald has grabbed five or more rebounds in six of the first nine games, leading the team in rebounding three times.
A Shocker has yet to finish with double figure rebounds this season.
The Shockers were called for 20 or more fouls in the first five games this season while their opponents have fouled 12 or less times in four games but have started to flip the script, getting to the line 20 or more times in the last two outings.
Wichita State opponents have attempted 71 more free throws and made 50 more free throws than the Shockers this season.
The Shockers have been outrebounded in the last four-straight games. They were +19 on the boards in their win over Lincoln.
 
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 women's basketball fell 83-43 on the road to receiving votes Texas Tech Wednesday evening in United Supermarkets Arena. The Shockers (1–8) showed stretches of competitive energy, particularly in a 16-point third quarter, but an efficient Red Raider offense and a tough night shooting limited Wichita State's ability to close the gap. Wichita State finished 13-for-56 (23.2 percent) from the field and 4-for-20 from three (20 percent). Bre'Yon White gave Wichita State six points and tied Maimouna Sissoko for a team-high five rebounds, providing a spark off the bench. Jaila Harding led the Shockers in scoring with 11 points, including two triples, while Kyleigh Ortiz chipped in six points, all coming from beyond the arc. Jaida McDonald provided strong minutes with six points and four rebounds, and Diamond Richardson went a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to finish with four points. After a slow offensive first quarter, Wichita State responded with 15 points in the second and used an 11-0 run in the third to trim the deficit. Texas Tech (10–0), however, countered each Shocker run with timely scoring. The Red Raiders shot 45.9 percent from the floor and knocked down 10 three-pointers, the most by a Shocker opponent this season. Jada Malone (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Jalynn Bristow (10 points, 8 rebounds) led Tech to their 10th-straight win. Texas Tech capitalized on the glass, outrebounding WSU 53-31 and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points.
 
SERIES VS. MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE
The teams meet for the first time in program history.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Led by second-year head coach Malikah Willis, Maryland Eastern Shore is 5-5, coming off a 92-59 loss to Virginia on the road on Nov. 30. The Hawks lead the MEAC in field goal percentage (40.3 percent) and three point percentage (31.8). Two Hawks are averaging double figures, led by Ashanti Lynch with 12.8 points per game and Brianna Barnes with 11.5 per game. Kaliya Perry is the team's leading rebounder with 6.7 per game. Lynch ranks 12 in the nation in total steals with 29, averaging 2.9 per game, and Barnes ranks second in the conference in free throw attempts, going to the line 46 times and hitting 30. UMES was picked third of eight teams in the MEAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Barnes and Lynch were both named to the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team.
 
THE MAIN DISH
Taya Davis is described as a true pass-first point guard, leading the Shockers in assists with 4.0 per game. Through nine games, Davis ranks fifth in the conference in total assists with 36.
 
TREY-LA HARDING
Jaila Harding is the best shooter on Wichita State's roster, shooting 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. The graduate transfer and Wichita native leads the conference in threes per game with 3.11, hitting five three different times against Lincoln, Western Kentucky and UC Irvine.
 
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 continue their homestand on Saturday, Dec. 13 against Loyola Marymount at 2:30 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.