RICE (12-12, 5-7 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (8-18, 2-11 AAC)
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracy Anderson
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
Champions for Literacy Game

---

OPENING TIPS
Wichita State welcomes Rice to The Roundhouse for the first time in program history
The teams have only met twice before with the Owls winning both meetings, first in 1986 and then against last season in Houston.
The Shockers are seeking their third conference win to begin to climb the conference standings.
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 13.0 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, recording 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 six times with a Division I career high 21 points last time out at Charlotte.
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 four 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.
Wichita State is one the deepest teams in the AAC, ranking No. 2 in the conference in bench points per game with 22.6.
The Shockers have limited turnovers, averaging 15.5 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 (64.5), 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 last four outings.
Murray ranks third in the AAC in field goal percentage (51.6 percent), making the fifth-most in the league with 145.
Aicha Ndour ranks seventh in the league in blocks per game with 1.13, blocking 27 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.
Jameson has hit at least one three pointer in each of the last four games and in 20 of 23 games she's played in this season.
Ndour has recorded multiple blocks 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 at home 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 in three of the last four games.
Wichita State's defense has held its last three opponents to 60 points or less in three of the last four outings.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Charlotte held off the Shockers' strong fourth quarter effort in a 73-59 win Wednesday evening in Halton Arena.
 
The 49ers (8-15, 3-9 AAC) led for 38 minutes of the game to claim their third conference win as the Shockers drop to 8-18, 2-11 AAC.
 
Charlotte's Alexis Andrews led all scoring with 27 points, hitting six threes and shooting 9-for-15 from the field. Keanna Rembert and Hayleigh Breland also finished in double figures with 19 and 15 points, respectively.
 
Princess Anderson put up a Division I career-high 21 points with five three pointers, and Salese Blow finished in double figures for the 15th time this season with 12 points.
 
Wichita State scored the first basket of the game, but Charlotte went on a 17-2 run in the first quarter to take a 13-point lead, holding the Shockers scoreless for over four minutes, but eight points from Anderson, including back-to-back threes helped cut the spread to eight going into halftime.
 
A back-and-forth third quarter saw Wichita State come within six, but Andrews hit a three in the final seconds of the quarter to push it back to nine.
 
The Shockers scored their second-most points in a fourth quarter this season with 24, courtesy of 11 points from Anderson as she tried to spark some momentum late, but they couldn't stop Andrews and the 49ers down the stretch as Charlotte closed out a complete game.
 
Both teams' benches had a high offensive production with the Shocker bench scoring 32, and the 49er bench putting up 34.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Led by fourth-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds, Rice is 5-7 in conference play, coming off their third-straight loss, a triple overtime thriller at South Florida. Two Owls are averaging double figures with Malia Fisher leading the team with 14.3 points per game and Dominique Ennis averaging 12.0 per game. Hailey Adams is the team's leading rebounder with 7.5 per game, ranking seventh in the conference. Victoria Flores holds the second-best free throw percentage in the AAC, shooting 81.5 percent from the line. Ennis ranks sixth in the AAC in three pointers per game with 2.36. Rice ranks third in the AAC in assist/turnover ratio (0.89), rebound margin (+4.3), and rebounds per game (40.08). Rice was picked second, tied with North Texas, out of 13 teams in the AAC Preseason Poll.
 
SERIES VS. RICE
The two teams meet for just the third time in program history with Rice remaining undefeated at 2-0 in the all-time series. The Owls have never come to Charles Koch Arena.
 
LAST MEETING
Turnovers troubled Wichita State as the Shockers fell 76-64 to Rice Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024 in the Fertitta Center. The Shockers committed 24 turnovers in their first American Athletic Conference loss of the season, while Rice opened their conference slate with a win. Redshirt-senior guard Tre'Zure Jobe recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Salese Blow led the Shockers in scoring, tying for a game-high 16 points in her third career start. Sophomore forward Daniela Abies also finished in double figures for the ninth time this year, tallying 14 points and nine rebounds. Wichita State won the battle of the boards, 38-37, and senior forward Sierra Morrow recorded a season-high three blocks. Five Owls finished in double figures, led by Dominique Ennis with a game-high 17 points. The Shockers were only down three at halftime after going on a 10-2 run to close the gap on an 11-point deficit to finish the second quarter. Wichita State came out swinging in the second half, scoring the first five points to take a two-point lead, but its third quarter woes returned as the Owls scored 12 points off eight turnovers, outscoring the Shockers 20-13 to go into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead. Turnovers continued to plague the Shockers in the fourth quarter as Rice's lead didn't drop below nine despite an eight-point effort by Blow in the final period.
 
LEADING LADIES
Through 26 games, Jayla Murray leads the Shockers in scoring with 13.0 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 42 threes this season, and is the Shockers' assists leader with 2.6 per game. Murray is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.4 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 eight 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 37.5 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 15 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 put up a Division I career high of 21 points at Charlotte. 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.