FLORIDA ATLANTIC (10-13, 2-8 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (7-16, 1-9 AAC)
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Tracy Anderson and Shane Dennis
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Blake Cripps
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State is back in Charles Koch Arena to face Florida Atlantic on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
Wichita State leads the all-time series 2-1, winning the last two straight against the Owls.
Last season, the teams split the regular season 1-1 with each team winning on the road before the Shockers took down FAU in the first round of the AAC Tournament.
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 14 times and was named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honorable mention player of the week list after her performance in the win over LMU. She recorded both of her 20-point performances against UAB.
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 last time out at Tulsa.
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 has started the last four games.
Wichita State is one of the deepest teams in the AAC, ranking second in the conference in bench points per game with 23.0.
Free throws have plagued the Shockers as they rank 11th in the AAC in free throw percentage (62.9), 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.
Murray ranks third in the AAC in field goal percentage (52.2 percent), making the fifth-most in the league with 128.
 
STREAKS & TRENDS
Blow has started 26-straight games for the Shockers.
Blow has been perfect from the charity stripe seven times this season and 14 times in her career.
All seven wins this season have come when the Shockers outrebounded their opponent.
The Shockers came back to beat UAB after being down at halftime, their first time this season overcoming a halftime deficit to win a game.
The Shockers have only led at halftime once during conference play, at ECU.
All but two wins in the Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points, including six of the seven 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State dropped its seventh-straight AAC game, falling 56-42 to Tulsa on the road Saturday afternoon in the Reynolds Center.
 
Jayla Murray led the Shockers in scoring for the ninth time this season with 18 points and led the team in rebounding with eight. She was the lone Shocker to finish in double figures as Salese Blow finished eight.
 
Wichita State committed 20 turnovers with just five assists but outscored the Golden Hurricane 22-20 in the paint. Tulsa dominated from the three-point line, hitting nine threes to the Shockers' two.
 
The Shockers shot just 30.2 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from three but recorded their best free throw percentage of the season, shooting 8-for-9 from the line.
 
Tulsa's Elise Hill led all scoring with 20 points, and Hadley Periman recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Golden Hurricane ranks second in the conference in three pointers per game with 7.8, and they were hot from behind the arc against the Shockers in the first quarter, shooting 5-for-9, including three-straight to end the first period up seven.
 
Murray had a big second quarter for the Shockers, scoring nine points and hitting 5 of 6 free throws, but Tulsa's Elise Hill helped prevent Wichita State from cutting into the Golden Hurricane's lead, taking an eight-point lead going into halftime.
 
Tulsa went on a 11-0 run early in the third quarter, holding Wichita State scoreless for over four minutes and hitting three more threes to stretch its lead to 16. Jasmine Peaks hit a three in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter to make it a 13-point game.
 
Wichita State came out with some energy in the fourth quarter, scoring the first four points of the period to cut the deficit to single digits but only scored four more points the remainder of the game.
 
The Shockers tied for their least amount of second-half points, scoring just 15, their lowest offensive output since playing then No. 9 Oklahoma.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Led by fourth-year head coach Jennifer Sullivan, Florida Atlantic is 2-8 in conference play, coming off a 66-61 home win over Rice. Three Owls are averaging double figures with junior guard Mya Perry leading the way with 15.4 points per game, freshman guard Erin Rodgers averaging 12.0 per game, and senior guard Jada Moore averaging 11.2 per game. Senior guard Ta'Ziah Jenks leads the team in rebounding with 6.0 per game. Perry ranks third in the conference in three point attempts and fourth in three pointers per game with 2.5. Stefanie Ingram ranks second in the AAC in total assists and third in assists per game with 5.0. The Owls were picked 13th of 13 teams in the AAC Preseason Poll and currently sit in 12^th.
 
SERIES VS. FLORIDA ATLANTIC
The two teams meet for just the fourth time in program history with Wichita State leading the all-time series 2-1. The only time the teams met in Charles Koch Arena, Florida Atlantic claimed a 63-56 victory.
 
LAST MEETING
Wichita State sophomore forward Daniela Abies led Wichita State past Florida Atlantic in the first round of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Tournament on March 9 in Dickies Arena. The Shockers won 64-50 behind 22 points and a tournament record 22 rebounds from Abies. Abies recorded a career-high 22 rebounds with nine of them on the offensive end, breaking the AAC tournament single-game record for total rebounds and tying the record for offensive rebounds. Wichita State out-rebounded FAU 48-43, tying for the most offensive rebounds in an AAC Championship game in program history with 17. Two Shockers joined Abies in double figures with Jayla Murray and Salese Blow scoring 12 and 11, respectively, and Raissa Nsabua dished out a career-high five assists. Wichita State shot just 4-for-19 (.211) from three but scored 34 points in the paint while holding FAU to 18-for-59 (.305) from the field. The Shockers finished the game on a 12-0 run over the final two and a half minutes and held the Owls to just nine fourth quarter points. After going up seven early in the second quarter, the Shockers went cold, ending the quarter 4-for-15 (.267), only making two field goals in the last 8:03 of the half to give the Owls a one-point advantage. Abies was held to just five first-half points but grabbed 12 rebounds before halftime but came out in the second half and scored the first points of the half. In a game that saw 13 lead changes and nine ties, the Shockers went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter to regain the lead for the final time. Blow hit a three in the last 10 seconds of the quarter, giving Wichita State a four-point lead. Abies scored 12 of the Shockers' 19 fourth-quarter points, leading them to a 12-0 run to end the game. 
 
LEADING LADIES
Through 23 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 38 threes this season. Murray is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.4 per game and two double-doubles. Jasmine Peaks is leading the team in assists during conference play with 2.9 per game.
 
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 twice 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 39.6 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 13 times this season with three 20+ point games, leading the team in scoring eight 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 nine 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.