WICHITA STATE (5-20, 2-10 American) at RICE (21-3, 11-0 American)
Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Houston, Texas | Tudor Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN+ with Jason Metko, Austyn Iven and Abby Christopherson
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State heads to Houston to face the American Conference leading Owls of Rice on Friday in Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Shockers and Owls meet for just the fourth time in program history with Rice leading the overall series, 2-1, winning the lone meeting in Houston in 2024. Wichita State prevailed in the teams' last meeting, winning 60-57 last February in 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. They picked up their first American Conference win against Memphis and took down the No. 2-ranked American Conference team on the road, defeating East Carolina, 63-54.
In the Jan. 20 win over Memphis, Abby Cater poured in 42 points, breaking Wichita State's single-game scoring record and tying for No. 7 in the nation this season for single-game points.
Jaila Harding and Cater are leading the Shockers in scoring, averaging 12.2 and 12.0 points per game, respectively. Cater and Harding each have recorded four 20-plus point performances this season.
Harding is one of the best three-point shooters in the nation, ranking 16^th in made threes with 71, leading the conference in three-point attempts and ranking second all-time in Wichita State history for single-season threes. She is averaging 2.8 threes per game.
Cater ranks third in the conference in steals per game with 2.3, recording a career-high eight at Florida Atlantic, good for No. 7 all-time in program history for single-game steals. She has recorded five or more steals in five games this season. She also ranks seventh in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 77.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Taya Davis is No. 7 in the American in assists with 94 on the season, averaging 3.8 per game.
 
STREAKS & TRENDS
Harding has hit two or more threes in 18 of 25 games and at least one in all but one.
Harding is the only Shocker to have started every game this season. Wichita State has tested 14 different starting lineups.
Taya Davis recorded five or more assists in the last six-straight games, dishing a season-high 11 against Tulsa, the first Shocker to finish with double figure assists since 2022. She is six away from 100 assists this season.
Cater has been perfect from the free throw line nine times this season.
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 five wins this season.
Eighty-eight percent of Terry Nooner's wins have come when outrebounding the opponent.
 
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 battled back time and again Tuesday night inside Charles Koch Arena, but Florida Atlantic escaped with a 79-77 overtime win in an American Athletic Conference matchup. The Shockers (5-20, 2-10 American) were led by another huge performance from Abby Cater as the graduate guard scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds, her fourth 20-plus point game of the season. Diamond Richardson also finished in double figures for sixth time this season, scoring 15 points. The Shockers scored 16 points off Owl turnovers, but Florida Atlantic's (11-13, 5-7 American) Erin Rodgers put up a team-high 24 points, scoring eight in overtime to help secure the two-point win. Wichita State came out aggressive, jumping to a 17-13 lead after the opening quarter behind a balanced scoring effort. Jaila Harding hit her 71st three of the season to claim the No. 2 spot outright on the Shockers' all-time single-season threes list, and the Shockers added 12 first-quarter points in the paint. FAU answered in the second quarter, using a 58.3 percent shooting performance in the frame to take a 31-28 lead into halftime. The Owls' efficiency continued into the second half as both teams traded runs in a tightly contested third quarter. Trailing 50-46 entering the fourth, Wichita State responded with one of its best stretches of the night. The Shockers shot 50 percent in the fourth period and outscored FAU 21-17 to force overtime. Cater and McDonald combined for key baskets down the stretch, scoring nine and eight points, respectively, in the quarter. In overtime, neither side led by more than two possessions. Wichita State had opportunities at the line and in the paint, finishing with a 52-38 advantage in points in the paint and a 23-9 edge in second-chance points. However, FAU converted key free throws in the extra period to seal the outcome, while the Shockers only hit two of six from the charity stripe in overtime. The Owls shot an even 50 percent from the field (28-of-56) and knocked down 18-of-24 free throws. Wichita State shot 41.7 percent overall and 14-of-22 from the line.
 
SERIES VS. RICE
The teams meet for just the fourth time in program history with Rice leading the all-time series 2-1. Rice won the last meeting in Houston, which was played at Houston's Fertitta Center due to facility issues at Rice, so this will be the teams' first meeting in Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
LAST MEETING
Wichita State picked up its third American Athletic Conference victory with a 60-57 win over the Owls in a back-and-forth contest on Feb. 15, 2025 in Charles Koch Arena. Wichita State held the Owls to just 57 points, well below their season average of 66.5, marking the fourth time in five games that the Shockers have kept their opponents below 60 points. The Shockers shot 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) from three, their best three-point percentage since Jan. 11, and 22-for-59 (37.3 percent) from the field. Senior guard Taylor Jameson led all scoring with 18 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field, hitting four threes, and shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Redshirt-junior forward Jayla Murray finished in double figures for the sixth time in the last seven games, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds, and Aicha Ndour led the Shockers on the glass with a career-high 13 rebounds. Senior Ella Anciaux recorded four blocks off the bench, tying her career high, and Princess Anderson and KP Parr had three steals apiece. Anderson recorded her first career start for the Shockers with Ornella Niankan out due to illness. Dominique Ennis led Rice with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. The game saw eight lead changes and four ties with neither team leading by more than eight at any point. The Shockers scored the first four points of the game, but an 11-2 Rice run put the Owls in front. Another run late in the quarter gave the Owls a six-point advantage after one. Wichita State opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run with the help of back-to-back threes from Parr and Jameson. Jameson hit two more threes in the quarter before Rice scored the last four points of the half to make it a two-point game. Rice started the second half on a 7-0 run to go up five before Murray snapped the scoring drought with a three. Jameson hit another three and Murray regained the lead for the Shockers with a pullup jumper. The lead changed hands twice more in the third, making it a one-point game with the Shockers in front going into the final period. White made a layup to open the quarter, but Ennis hit a three for Rice to tie it up. The teams traded jumpers, and then neither team hit a shot for two and a half minutes. Ndour hit one of two free throws with 3:17 to play, putting the Shockers up three, but Rice's Alexis Aniah made a jumper to make it a one-point game under three minutes. Anderson hit a pair of crucial free throws to push it back to a three-point Shocker lead, but Malia Fisher drained a three for Rice to tie it back up at 50-50 with 2:07 left. Murray recorded back-to-back buckets as the Shockers forced two turnovers in the final minute. Wichita State hit six more big free throws down the stretch to hold off the Owls, shooting 9-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter.
 
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Led by head coach Lindsay Edmonds, Rice is undefeated in conference play with a record of 21-3 (11-0 American), winning its last 16 straight. The Owls lead the American Conference in free throw percentage (81.0), scoring margin (10.8), three-point percentage defense (27.8) and turnovers per game (13.9). Four Owls are averaging double figures, led by Dominique Ennis with 12.7 points per game. Ennis is a great three-point shooter, averaging 2.7 per game, good for third in the conference. Hailey Adams is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 11 per game to rank second in the conference. Adams is also a shot blocker, leading the conference with 1.6 per game. Rice was picked third out of 13 teams in the American Conference Preseason Poll, receiving one first-place vote. Ennis was named to the Preseason All-Conference First Team, and Aniah Alexis and Victoria Flores were named to the Second Team.
 
TREY-LA HARDING
Jaila Harding is the best shooter on Wichita State's roster, shooting 34.6 percent from beyond the arc. The graduate transfer and Wichita native ranks second in the conference in threes per game with 2.8, hitting four or more threes in eight different games and tying her career high of six in both games against Tulsa. Her 71 total threes this season landed her on Wichita State's all-time top-10 list for single-season threes, currently sitting No. 2. The record was set by Courtney Sims at 73 during the 1999-2000 season.
 
SERVING POINTS ON A PLATTER
Abby Cater broke Wichita State's single-game scoring record in the win over Memphis, scoring 42 points to tie for No. 7 in the nation this season for single-game points. Cater shot 15-for-29 from the floor, hitting a career-high four threes and shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. The Shocker record was previously held by Kareema Williams, who set it at 41 points in 1992.
 
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. 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.
 
Cater also ranks third in the conference in steals per game, averaging 2.3 and recording five or more five times this season with the goal of becoming the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
 
THE MAIN DISH
Taya Davis is described as a true pass-first point guard, leading the Shockers in assists with 3.8 per game. She has dished five or more assists in 10 games this season, including the last six-straight. She recorded a season-high 11 at home against Tulsa. She averaged 7.3 assists per game her sophomore season at Garden City CC.
 
DEPTH CHART
The Shockers rank fourth in the conference in bench points per game, averaging 22.4 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 take on UTSA on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena for their Play4Kay Pink Game.