WICHITA STATE (8-17, 2-10 AAC) at CHARLOTTE (7-15, 2-9 AAC)
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 | 5:30 p.m. CT
Charlotte, N.C. | Halton Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Bobby Rosinski and Kam Roach
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Pat Strathman

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OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks to add one to the win column, heading to Charlotte, N.C. to take on the 49ers.
Charlotte is undefeated in the all-time series, winning in 2003, 2004 and 2024.
Last time the teams met, the 49ers claimed a 74-49 victory in Halton Arena.
Wichita State is in year two of the Terry Nooner era, and the Shockers return their leading scorer from conference play, sophomore guard Salese Blow. With nine newcomers on the team, the Shockers return just 37.6 percent of their scoring.
Redshirt-junior forward Jayla Murray and Blow have been the 1-2 punch for the Shockers, leading the team with 13.2 and 11.2 points per game, respectively.
Blow has led the Shockers in scoring in eight games with three 20+ point performances, making eight career games over 20.
Murray led the Shockers in scoring during non-conference play, averaging 11.7 points per game with two double-doubles. She has finished in double figures 16 times, recorded two 20-point performances, both against UAB, and has led Wichita State in scoring 10 times.
Junior Princess Anderson has been a spark plug off the bench for the Shockers, leading the team in scoring five times with a Division I career high 19 points against UAB.
Graduate transfer and Wichita native Taylor Jameson returned home for her final season of college basketball and has led the Shockers in scoring five times. In the conference opener against North Texas, she hit five threes on her way to 17 points and at UTSA she drained a career-high six threes, scoring a season-high 22 points. She missed three games due to injury but returned to the lineup two games ago at Tulsa.
Freshman KP Parr has been a pest on defense, applying ball pressure and being a constant, frustrating presence for the opposition.
Jasmine Peaks has proven to be a great facilitator for Wichita State, dishing out a career-high eight assists against Tulane, one of five times leading the team in assists and second time this season with five or more assists. She stepped into the starting lineup while Jameson was out.
Charlotte and Wichita State are the two deepest teams in the AAC, ranking No. 1 and 2 in the conference in bench points per game with 24.7 and 22.2, respectively.
The Shockers have limited turnovers, averaging 15.6 per game, good for second-best in the conference.
Free throws have plagued the Shockers as they rank 11th in the AAC in free throw percentage (64.3), but they hit their most free throws of the season (20) in the road win over UAB, including a perfect 10-for-10 from Blow, and have hit 70 percent or better in the las three outings.
Murray ranks third in the AAC in field goal percentage (52 percent), making the third-most in the league with 142.
Aicha Ndour ranks eighth in the league in blocks per game with 1.09, blocking 25 shots overall.
 
STREAKS & TRENDS
Blow, Murray and Niankan have started every game this season for the Shockers.
Blow has been perfect from the charity stripe eight times this season and 15 times in her career.
Murray has finished in double figures in each of the last five games.
Jameson has hit at least one three pointer in each of the last three games.
All eight wins this season have come when the Shockers outrebounded their opponent.
The Shockers came back to beat both UAB and Florida Atlantic after being down at halftime, their only times this season overcoming a halftime deficit to win a game.
The Shockers have only led at halftime twice during conference play, at ECU and last time out against UTSA.
All but two wins in the Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points, including seven of the eight wins this season.
The Shockers have missed as many or more free throws than the final score margin in a loss six times this season.
Wichita State held its opponents to 35 percent or less from the field over the last three games.
Shocker opponents have shot 25 percent or less from three over the last five games.
Wichita State's defense has held its last three opponents to 60 points or less over the last three outings.
 
LAST TIME OUT
American Athletic Conference leader UTSA prevailed, 60-49, in a physical contest Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
 
The Roadrunners (20-3, 11-1 AAC) shot 26-for-33 from the free throw line and used a 22-9 fourth quarter to pull away in a game where the Shockers (8-17, 2-10 AAC) held the lead for 26 minutes. After shooting 23.7 percent from the field through the first three quarters, UTSA's shots started to fall in the fourth quarter, shooting 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) to close out the game.
 
Wichita State only got to the line 11 times to UTSA's 3, but hit nine of 11, its fourth time shooting above 80 percent from the charity stripe.
 
UTSA's Idara Udo recorded a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, helping the Roadrunners dominate the boards, 51-33.
 
The Shockers forced 10 first-half turnovers, scoring eight points off those turnovers and had 14 points in the paint to UTSA's four. Salese Blow led all scoring in the first half, scoring 11 of her 15 points before halftime to give the Shockers a four-point lead.
 
Defense, rebounding and free throw shooting kept UTSA in the game in the third quarter, going into the final quarter down two to the Shockers.
 
Down the stretch, Wichita State shot just 3-for-14 (21.4 percent), and the Roadrunners took their first lead since 11-10 in the first quarter with 6:17 to play. UTSA out-scored the Shockers 22-9 in the fourth quarter, hitting nine of 12 free throws to help put the game away.
 
Wichita State held UTSA to just 28.8 percent shooting on the game, but the Roadrunners had 17 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points.
 
Blow led the Shockers with 15 points, and Jayla Murray recorded her fifth-straight game in double figures with 14, also leading the team in rebounding with seven.

SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Led by seventh-year head coach (first at Charlotte) Tomekia Reed, Charlotte is 2-9 in conference play, coming off back-to-back losses to Tulsa and UAB. One 49er is averaging double figures as junior guard Hayleigh Breland leads the team with 11.3 points per game. Keanna Rembert is the team's leading rebounder with 5.6 per game. Jayla Kelly ranks third in the conference in blocks per game with 1.38. Charlotte is the only AAC team in the lead with more bench points per game than the Shockers, averaging 24.7. The 49ers get to the free throw line, ranking second in the conference in free throws made per game with 13. Charlotte was picked one spot ahead of the Shockers at 11th of 13 teams in the AAC Preseason Poll.
 
SERIES VS. CHARLOTTE
The two teams meet for just the fourth time in program history with Charlotte remaining undefeated at 3-0 in the all-time series. The 49ers have won both meetings in Halton Arena, most recently last February.
 
LAST MEETING
Charlotte took the lead three minutes into the game and never looked back as Wichita State fell 74-48 on February 24, 2024 in Halton Arena. Charlotte's Dazia Lawrence led the scoring with 22 points, and Jacee Busick recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Salese Blow led the Shockers with 17 points, her 16^th game in double figures, and Raissa Nsabua tied her career high with 10. The 49ers shot 25-for-53 (.472) from the field and 11-for-27 (.407) from behind the arc. The Shockers struggled to rebound without their leading rebounder, Daniela Abies, who was out due to concussion protocols as Charlotte won the battle of the boards 43-26. Wichita State forced 20 turnovers but only was able to capitalize with 11 points from turnovers. The Shockers outscored Charlotte in the paint, 30-18, but only shot 4-for-18 (.222) from three. Wichita State scored the first points of the game before Charlotte took the lead, and six first-quarter turnovers, including four travels slowed the Shockers. Lawrence has six points in the period to help the 49ers gain a seven-point advantage. In the second quarter, Nsabua got going for the Shockers with six points, but Charlotte held Wichita State scoreless for over three minutes and was able to increase its lead to 13 at the half. The Shockers cut the deficit to nine, going on a 9-0 run after being down 18 in the third quarter with scores from Nsabua, Ornella Niankan, DJ McCarty and Blow, but the 49ers quickly opened it back up with three made threes courtesy of Busick and Nia Young. Charlotte ran away with it in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Shockers 18-7, the Shockers' second-lowest scoring fourth quarter of the season.
 
LEADING LADIES
Through 25 games, Jayla Murray leads the Shockers in scoring with 13.2 points per game. Salese Blow is also averaging double figures with 11.2 points per game. Taylor Jameson has been the best three-point shooter for Wichita State, hitting 40 threes this season, and is the Shockers' assists leader with 2.6 per game. Murray is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.5 per game and two double-doubles.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Entering the season, no Shockers on the roster had ever recorded a Division I double-double. Jayla Murray, Bre'Yon White and Maimouna Sissoko have each logged their firsts, Murray's in the season opener and then another against UAB, White's in the win over WKU, and Sissoko's on her birthday at Memphis.
 
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.
 
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.
 
#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 three times 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 five times and assists six times and has finished in double figures 10 times. Jameson hit at least one three pointer in 12-straight games before the streak ended against Tulane and has hit multiple threes 10 times. She recorded her first 20-piece of the year with 22 at UTSA. She leads the Shockers in three pointers, shooting 37.7 percent from behind the arc.
 
BOBO DA SHOW
Salese Blow, nicknamed BoBo by her mom Stacie, who is an NCAA women's basketball and G-League official, 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 14 times this season with three 20+ point games, leading the team in scoring nine 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 10 times with two double-doubles and two 20-point performances.
 
P3
Princess Anderson had a breakout game in the win over Prairie View A&M, scoring 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, at Oral Roberts with 13, at Memphis with 11, and at North Texas with 13. She sparked momentum for the Shockers in the second half against UAB, scoring 19 points and scored 17 at ECU. She averaged 26.7 points per game off the bench as a sophomore at Pratt CC, leading the NJCAA in scoring.
 
OFF THE COURT SUCCESS
Wichita State women's basketball set a new program record with their fall semester GPA of 3.52 with four perfect 4.0s.
 
NEW HEIGHTS
Senior transfer from Illinois, Aicha Ndour, is the tallest player in Wichita State history at 6-6.
 
DESTINED DUO
Jayla Murray and Jasmine Peaks go way back. The duo played high school basketball together at Tampa Bay Tech, where they won the 2019-20 Florida Class 8A State Championship together. Both decided to transfer after that season and coincidentally ended up at the same school, Winter Haven. The duo played on the same AAU team as well before heading off to college. Murray went to play for Florida SouthWestern State and Peaks went to Indian River State College. Murray transferred to Wichita State in 2022-23. Nooner started recruiting Peaks during that season, and the pair realized they might have a chance to play together again. The duo has great on-court chemistry having played together for so long and know each other's tendencies.
 
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.