WICHITA STATE (3-13, 0-3 American) at EAST CAROLINA (10-6, 2-1 American)
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2025 | 2:00 p.m.
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracy Anderson
Radio: KEYN 103.7, GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
Yellow Out
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks to pick up its first American Conference win at home against East Carolina Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
The Shockers and Pirates meet for the 13^th time in program history with ECU leading the series, 8-4, winning the last five straight. Wichita State leads the series 3-2 inside Charles Koch Arena.
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 13.1 points per game, while Abby Cater is chipping in 10.3 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 fourth in made threes with 50 to lead the conference and tie for sixth all-time in Wichita State history. She ranks second in the nation in three-point attempts with 136 and 10th in threes per game with 3.13. Harding also ranks second in the conference in minutes per game, averaging 33.57 per game.
Cater ranks seventh in the conference in steals per game with 2.0.
Treasure Thompson ranks fifth in the conference in blocks per game with 1.27 and recorded her 100^th career block in the non-conference finale.
The Shockers rank third in the American Conference in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 27.8 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 16 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 16-straight.
Treasure Thompson has led the Shockers in rebounding in the last four games, finishing with eight or more rebounds in three of the last four 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 four games, leading the Shockers in scoring twice this season.
 
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 dropped a 70-50 decision to Temple on Tuesday night inside Charles Koch Arena, as the visiting Owls used a balanced attack and a strong second half to pull away. Temple (7-7, 1-1 American) led for all but 26 seconds of the game, building an 18-11 advantage after the first quarter. Wichita State (3-13, 0-3 American) tied the game at 21 in the second, but Temple went on an 11-0 run and took a 32-23 lead into halftime. The Owls pushed the lead to double figures early in the third quarter and continued to apply pressure on both ends, outscoring Wichita State 18-11 in the third and 20-16 in the fourth to secure the road win. Temple shot 40.8 percent from the field and finished with 38 points in the paint, while also forcing 25 Wichita State turnovers and scoring 22 points off those miscues. Wichita State countered with 21 bench points and stayed competitive on the glass, finishing with 38 rebounds to Temple's 42. Diamond Richardson led Wichita State with 10 points, while Cheyenne Banks added a season-high eight points. Azjah Reeves provided a spark off the bench with seven points, and Cater also scored seven for the Shockers. Four Owls finished in double figures as Jaleesa Molina, Saniyah Craig and Kaylah Turner all finished with 13 points and Tristen Taylor put up 11.
 
SERIES VS. EAST CAROLINA
The teams meet for the 13^th time in program history with the Pirates leading the series 8-4, while Wichita State leads the series 3-2 in Charles Koch Arena.
 
LAST MEETING
The Shockers saw one slip away late in the fourth quarter as East Carolina came back from down seven to claim a 72-62 victory Wednesday evening in Minges Coliseum. Wichita State led for 25:36, but a 27-point fourth quarter for the Pirates propelled them past the Shockers to win by 10 and end a three-game losing streak. ECU's Amiya Joyner surpassed the 1,000 career points mark, leading the Pirates with a 17-point 13-rebound double-double. Three Shockers finished in double figures with Jayla Murray scoring 19, Princess Anderson putting up 17, and Salese Blow finishing with 11. Maimouna Sissoko led the Shockers in rebounding with eight, and Jasmine Peaks dished out a team-high four assists. ECU won the battle of the boards, 42-33, and scored 19 second-chance points. The Pirates forced 20 Shocker turnovers and scored 24 points off those errors. After shooting 9-for-11 from the line in the first half, the Shockers struggled at the line after halftime, shooting just 7-for-13. Anderson's speed helped the Shockers in the first half, scoring buckets in transition and hitting Wichita State's only three-point attempt of the half to go into halftime with 12 points. Murray also had a big first half, shooting 5-for-7 from the field for 11 points. East Carolina grabbed eight offensive boards to Wichita State's one in the first half, scoring six second-chance points. The Shockers claimed a six-point lead going into halftime, their first time leading at the half during AAC play. The second half got off to a slow start for both teams with just eight points scored overall through the first four and a half minutes. The Shockers turned the ball over six times in the third quarter and the Pirates capitalized with six points off those turnovers. ECU went on a 9-0 run over three minutes to take its first lead since 7-5 and lead by two going into the final quarter. The Pirates went up six in the fourth, but Wichita State came back and took the lead after an 8-0 run. ECU regained the lead and started to pull away, going up nine with under a minute remaining. The Pirates hit critical free throws down the stretch, making 10 of 12 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
Led by 10th-year head coach (seventh at ECU) Kim McNeill, East Carolina is 10-6, coming off a 63-87 loss at North Texas after winning its first two conference games against UAB and Memphis. The Pirates lead the American Conference in turnover margin (5.63) and force 20.88 turnovers per game. They rank second in the conference in free throw attempts per game with 21.63 and second in steals per game with 11.3. Two Pirates are averaging double figures, led by Taylor Barner with 13.9 and Kennedy Fauntleroy with 12.1, respectively. Barner leads the American in free throw percentage, shooting 90 percent and hitting 54 free throws on the season, and Fauntleroy leads the conference in steals (45) and steals per game (2.81). East Carolina was picked seventh of 13 teams in the American Conference Preseason Poll.
 
TREY-LA HARDING
Jaila Harding is the best shooter on Wichita State's roster, shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. The graduate transfer and Wichita native leads the conference in threes per game with 3.13, hitting four or more threes in seven different games and tying her career high of six at Tulsa. Her 50 total threes this season landed her on Wichita State's all-time top-10 list for single-season threes, currently tying for sixth. 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.
 
THE MAIN DISH
Taya Davis is described as a true pass-first point guard, leading the Shockers in assists with 3.4 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 head to the Sunshine State to face Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. CT and South Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. CT.