WICHITA STATE (6-21, 3-11 American) at UAB (10-16, 3-11 American)
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 | 6:00 p.m.
Birmingham, Ala. | Bartow Arena
TV: ESPN+
Radio: KEYN 103.7, GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman
 
OPENING TIPS
Wichita State looks to move up the conference standings as they head to Birmingham, Ala. to take on UAB on Wednesday evening in Bartow Arena.
The Shockers and Blazers meet for the seventh time in program history with the series tied at 3-3. UAB has won the last two-straight meetings, but both teams are undefeated in the other team's 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.
Last time out, the Shockers held on to edge UTSA 62-61 at home to pick up their third conference win.
Cater and Jaila Harding are leading the Shockers in scoring, averaging 12.0 points apiece per game. 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 32^nd in made threes with 75, breaking the Wichita State single-season threes record last time out. She leads the conference in three-point attempts and is averaging 2.8 threes per game.
Cater ranks third in the conference in steals per game with 2.4, 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 sixth in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 78.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Taya Davis is No. 7 in the American in assists with 99 on the season.
 
STREAKS & TRENDS
Harding has hit two or more threes in 19 of 27 games and at least one in all but two.
Harding is the only Shocker to have started every game this season. Wichita State has tested 14 different starting lineups, the third-most different starting lineups in the nation.
Taya Davis recorded five or more assists in seven of the last eight games, dishing a season-high 11 against Tulsa, the first Shocker to finish with double figure assists since 2022. She is one away from 100 assists this season.
Cater has been perfect from the free throw line 10 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 six wins 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
Jaila Harding's school record-breaking performance led the Shockers to a 62-61 win over UTSA Saturday afternoon during the annual Play4Kay pink game in Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers used a decisive third quarter to seize control, outscoring the Roadrunners 25-16 coming out of halftime and holding on through a tightly contested fourth period. Wichita State led for nearly 28 minutes and withstood eight lead changes and six ties in a back-and-forth affair. Wichita native Jaila Harding delivered another milestone performance, pouring in 19 points while knocking down four three-pointers. With her third make from deep, Harding broke Wichita State's 26-year old single-season record for made three-pointers, previously set by Courtney Sims in the 1999-2000 season, and she pushed her season total to 75 by the end of the night. She added a steal and logged nearly 37 minutes on her way to 19 points in the win. The Shockers received balanced production across the lineup. Abby Cater chipped in 12 points, while Diamond Richardson added 11 off the bench to help Wichita State outscore UTSA 23-6 in bench points. Taya Davis impacted the game beyond the box score, finishing with a team-high five assists and six rebounds. After the teams went into halftime tied at 24, Wichita State scored the first five points of the third quarter and later went on an 8-0 run to push the lead to double figures. Harding shot 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the third quarter, part of a stretch that saw the Shockers shoot over 60 percent from the field in the period. UTSA made one final push in the closing minutes, cutting the deficit to one in the final seconds, but Wichita State's Jaida McDonald recorded the game-saving block to secure the victory. Wichita State finished the game shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and went 12-of-20 at the free throw line. The Shockers forced 13 UTSA turnovers in the first half and converted them into key transition opportunities, while holding the Roadrunners to 20 points in the paint. The win moves Wichita State to 6-21 overall and 3-11 in conference play, while UTSA drops to 12-13 on the season and 7-7 in conference play.
 
SERIES VS. UAB
The Shockers and Blazers meet for the seventh time in program history with the series tied at 3-3. UAB has won the last two-straight meetings, but both teams are undefeated in the other team's arena.
 
LAST MEETING
Then American Conference leader UTSA prevailed, 60-49, in a physical contest Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena. The Roadrunners shot 26-for-33 from the free throw line and used a 22-9 fourth quarter to pull away in a game where the Shockers held the lead for 26 minutes. After shooting 23.7 percent from the field through the first three quarters, UTSA's shots started to fall in the fourth quarter, shooting 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) to close out the game. Wichita State only got to the line 11 times to UTSA's 3, but hit nine of 11, its fourth time shooting above 80 percent from the charity stripe. UTSA's Idara Udo recorded a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, helping the Roadrunners dominate the boards, 51-33. The Shockers forced 10 first-half turnovers, scoring eight points off those turnovers and had 14 points in the paint to UTSA's four. Salese Blow led all scoring in the first half, scoring 11 of her 15 points before halftime to give the Shockers a four-point lead. Defense, rebounding and free throw shooting kept UTSA in the game in the third quarter, going into the final quarter down two to the Shockers. Down the stretch, Wichita State shot just 3-for-14 (21.4 percent), and the Roadrunners took their first lead since 11-10 in the first quarter with 6:17 to play. UTSA out-scored the Shockers 22-9 in the fourth quarter, hitting nine of 12 free throws to help put the game away. Wichita State held UTSA to just 28.8 percent shooting on the game, but the Roadrunners had 17 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points. Blow led the Shockers with 15 points, and Jayla Murray recorded her fifth-straight game in double figures with 14, also leading the team in rebounding with seven.
 
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS
Led by head coach Randy Norton, UAB is 10-16 (3-11 American), coming off back-to-back losses to North Texas and Tulsa after picking up their third conference win on Feb. 10 against Memphis. The Blazers lead the American Conference in three-point shooting, averaging 22.8 attempts per game on 35.8 percent shooting and hitting 8.2 per game. Cali Smallwood is the best three-point shooter in the conference, shooting 41.8 percent from beyond the arc and averaging 3.0 per fame. Smallwood leads UAB with 14.1 points per game, while three other Blazers are also averaging double figures. Monae' Duffy is the team's leading rebounder with 8.3 per game. UAB was picked 11^th out of 13 teams in the American Conference Preseason Poll.
 
TREY-LA HARDING
Jaila Harding is the best shooter on Wichita State's roster, shooting 34.1 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 nine different games and tying her career high of six in both games against Tulsa. Her 75 total threes this season set a new Wichita State program record for single-season threes, breaking the previous record 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 2.4 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 3.7 per game. She has dished five or more assists in 11 games this season, including seven of the last eight. 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 continue on to New Orleans, La. to take on Tulane on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. in Devlin Fieldhouse.