WICHITA STATE (3-15, 0-5 American) at SOUTH FLORIDA (11-7, 4-1 American)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TV: ESPN+ with Leah Secondo and Jim Louk
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks to pick up its first American Conference win on the road at South Florida Saturday night in the Yuengling Center.
The Shockers and Bulls meet for the 14^th time in program history with South Florida leading the series, 10-3, and winning all four meetings in Tampa.
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.
Jaila Harding is leading the Shockers in scoring with 12.3 points per game, while Abby Cater is chipping in 10.4 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 14th in made threes with 52 to lead the conference and rank fifth all-time in Wichita State history for single-season threes. She ranks second in the nation in three-point attempts with 151 and 20th in threes per game with 2.89, ranking second in the conference. Harding also ranks fifth in the conference in minutes per game, averaging 33.02 per game.
Cater ranks third in the conference in steals per game with 2.53, recording a career-high eight at Florida Atlantic, good for No. 7 all-time in program history for single-game steals.
Treasure Thompson ranks fifth in the conference in blocks per game with 1.12 and recorded her 100^th career block in the non-conference finale.
The Shockers rank second in the American Conference in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 29 percent from beyond the arc.
 
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 13 of the first 17 games, including two 20-plus point performances.
Harding has hit two or more threes in 13 of the first 16 games and at least one in 17-straight.
Treasure Thompson has led the Shockers in rebounding in the last five games, finishing with eight or more rebounds in four of the last five games. She is the only Shocker this season to finish with double figure rebounds, grabbing 10 against Tulane.
Harding is the only Shocker to have started every game this season. Wichita State has tested 12 different starting lineups.
Diamond Richardson has finished in double figures in three of her last five games, leading the Shockers in scoring twice this season.
Abby Cater has fouled out of three of the last four games.
 
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 closed strong in the final 10 minutes, but Florida Atlantic built an early cushion and held on for an 88-64 decision Tuesday night at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena. The Shockers (3-15, 0-5 American) were led by Abby Cater, who poured in a team-high 17 points to go along with eight steals and five rebounds. Cater's eight takeaways ties for seventh all-time in program history for single-game steals, just three away from the record held by Alex Harden and April Banks. Jaida McDonald added 10 points, four rebounds and two steals, while Wichita State got 39 points off the bench on the night. Florida Atlantic (8-9, 2-3 AAC) shot 51.6 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from three, jumping out to a 22-14 lead after the first quarter and extending the margin to 45-25 at halftime. The Shockers scored 38 points in the paint and 14 fast-break points, but FAU's perimeter shooting proved difficult to overcome. The Owls knocked down 11 three pointers, including eight in the first half, to stretch the lead to as many as 25 midway through the second quarter. Wichita State competed throughout the second half, matching FAU's 21 fourth quarter points. Cater fueled the late push, scoring nine of her points in the final period. Sophie Benharouga chipped in seven points off the bench in the third quarter, including one of Wichita State's three triples of the game. FAU was led by Michiyah Simmons and Vivian Onugha, who combined for 33 points, as five Owls finished in double figures.
 
SERIES VS. SOUTH FLORIDA
The teams meet for the 14^th time in program history with South Florida leading the series 10-3, going a perfect 4-0 when facing the Shockers in Tampa. The last Wichita State win came in quarter final of the 2023 American Conference Tournament, when the Shockers knocked out the No. 1 seed Bulls with a 65-53 win.
 
LAST MEETING
American Athletic Conference preseason favorite South Florida stifled the Shockers in a resounding 72-46 win Wednesday evening in Charles Koch Arena. Three Bulls finished in double figures, led by Sammie Puisis with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting with four threes. USF outrebounded Wichita State 40-23, the Shockers' worst rebounding game of the season, scoring 15 second chance points. The Shockers shot 17-for-48 (35.4 percent) from the field and just 3-for-12 (25 percent) from three as South Florida held them to their lowest scoring game of the season. Jayla Murray scored a team-high 15 points, her 12th game in double figures this season, and grabbed six rebounds. Taylor Jameson finished with seven points and hit a three in the second quarter to extend her streak to 11 games with at least one made three. Maimouna Sissoko led the Shockers in rebounding for the second time in three games with seven, and Aicha Ndour recorded a game-high three blocks. Wichita State scored the first four points of the game before the Bulls went on a 25-4 run over the rest of the first quarter. South Florida shot 4-for-5 from three in the first quarter, with Puisis hitting three of those, to give the Bulls a 25-8 advantage. After Puisis scored 13 points in the first quarter, the Shockers held her scoreless in the second, but the Bulls scored eight-straight to take their biggest lead of the game (26 points) with 4:30 remaining in the half. Blow helped spark some momentum for the Shockers, scoring all eight of her points in the second quarter, helping Wichita State go on a 14-1 run to go into halftime down 13. The Shockers held USF to 11 second quarter points. Murray came out of halftime with some energy, scoring 13 of her 15 points after the break, but South Florida continued to stifle the Shockers in the second half, allowing just 23 points. Wichita State was able to cut the deficit to 11, but the Bulls didn't take their foot off the gas, scoring 10 straight to go back up 25. The Shockers were unable to gain any momentum to overcome the deficit in the fourth quarter.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLS
Led by interim head coach Michele Woods-Baxter, South Florida is 11-7, coming off four-straight conference wins over North Texas, UAB, Memphis and UTSA after dropping their American Conference opener to Rice. The Bulls lead the American Conference in field goal percentage (43.7) and defensive rebounds per game (27.6), . Three Bulls are averaging double figures, led by Edyn Battle with 15.0, Katie Davidson with 11.4 and Stefanie Ingram with 10.7. L'or Mputu is the team's leading rebounder with 8.2 per game, good for sixth in the conference. Ingram leads the conference in assists per game with 5.8, dishing out a total of 104 on the season, ranking 14^th in the nation. South Florida was picked to win the American Conference in the Preseason Poll, and Carla Brito was name the American Conference Preseason Player of the Year, while Mputu joined her on the Preseason All-Conference First Team.
 
TREY-LA HARDING
Jaila Harding is the best shooter on Wichita State's roster, shooting 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. The graduate transfer and Wichita native leads the conference in made threes per game with 52, hitting four or more threes in seven different games and tying her career high of six at Tulsa. Her 52 total threes this season landed her on Wichita State's all-time top-10 list for single-season threes, currently sitting No. 5. The record was set by Courtney Sims at 73 during the 1999-2000 season.
 
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. Last time out at Florida Atlantic, she put up 17 points and recorded a career-high eight steals, good for No. 7 all-time in program history for single-game steals.
 
THE MAIN DISH
Taya Davis is described as a true pass-first point guard, leading the Shockers in assists with 2.8 per game.
 
DEPTH CHART
The Shockers after 23.6 bench points per game with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
 
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 to face Memphis on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. on Aviation Night.