The Wichita State women's basketball team hits the road to face Missouri State, Friday night at 7:05 p.m.  The battle between the first place Shockers and second place Lady Bears will be televised locally on Cox Cable channel 34, DirecTV channel 671, and Dish Network channel 418.  The radio broadcast will again be carried on AM 1330 KNSS.

• WSU is off to its best start to conference play in school history at 9-2.  The Shockers also went 9-2 in 2000.  That squad started 10-2 for the top mark after 12 games.         
• The Shockers have won seven of the last eight true road games.  WSU has already captured its second-highest road win total (7) since the inception of the MVC in 1992-93 and needs two more to match the 1999-2000 squad.  Wichita State has five of those wins in conference play and needs one more to match the '99-'00 team for the program's top total.
• Until last year's 5-9 road record, WSU was 6-75 (.074) on the road in the previous seven seasons ('03-04 to '09-'10) and won as many MVC road games (3) as they had during those same seven seasons (3-60).  
• WSU ranks No. 91 in the most recent RPI report released by the NCAA.  The Shockers broke into the Top 100 at No. 86 five weeks ago, marking the first time since the end of the 2001-02 season the Shockers entered the Top 100, and were ranked No. 89 last week.  Missouri State (50) and Creighton (78) also represent the Valley in the Top 100.  
• Wichita State ranks 17th in the NCAA in field goal percentage (.442) and 60th in free throw perentage (.722).
• WSU leads the MVC in field goal percentage (.442), scoring defense (58.1 ppg), steals per game (10.5), and turnovers forced (18.7).
• Haleigh Lankster has 1,240 career points to rank 10th on WSU's all-time scoring list.
• Jody Adams has more wins against Missouri State (7) than any other MVC opponent but is just 1-2 at JQH Arena.
• Jody Adams also needs one win to pass Karen Harden (1983-89) for 3rd on the WSU all-time wins list.  She currently has 63 wins at Wichita State, trailing Kathryn Bunnell, who collected 71 wins from 1978-83, and Linda Hargrove, who holds the program record with 113 victories over nine seasons from 1989-98.
  

SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE
The Lady Bears are riding a 5-game winning streak and are tied for 2nd in the MVC, one game back of the Shockers.  Sophomore guard Karly Buer captured the MVC Player of the Week last week by averaging 17.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in road wins at Creighton and Drake.  Pre-Season MVC Player of the Year Casey Garrison paces the team in points (17.5 ppg), assists (4.8 apg), and blocked shots (13).  Christiana Shorter added 13.2 ppg and a team-best 7.1 rpg.  The Lady Bears are shooting .431 from the field and are +3.7 in rebounding and +1.6 in turnover margin.
WSU won the first matchup between the two team, 53-51, in Wichita on Jan. 14.  The Shockers scored 21 points off 24 turnovers to help offset a -14 margin in rebounding.  Shorter turned in a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double for MSU while Chynna Turner 14 points and Jazimen Gordon just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 boards for the Shockers.  Each team hit just one three-point basket while Missouri St. out-shot WSU at the free throw line, 8-for-10 to 4-for-8.

A LOOK AHEAD

• Following tonight's game, WSU returns home for the first time in 19 days to face So. Illinois on Fri., Feb. 17 (7:05 p.m.) and Evansville on Sun., Feb. 19 (2:05 p.m.).
• WSU was picked 3rd in MVC Pre-Season Poll - highest ranking since 2006-07 and just the second time ever WSU has been picked in the top three.
• WSU returns four starters and six letter winners, including 74% of its scoring and 76% of its rebounding from 2010-11.
• The Shockers added freshmen Alex Harden and Molly O'Brien, junior college transfers Jasmine "Bugg" Jones, Nicole Wells, and Brittany Taylor.

NOTES ON JODY ADAMS

• WSU is 42-17 (7-3 this yr.) at home under Adams
• Passed Darryl Smith for 4th on the WSU all-time wins list and needs 1 to pass Karen Harden for 3rd.
• 63-55 in 4 seasons at WSU and 87-63 overall (24-8 @ Murray St in 2007-08)
• WSU is 34-13 (8-3 this year) under Adams when out-rebounding opponent
• WSU is 39-3 (9-2 this year) under Adams when attempting more FTs that opponent
• Only WSU coach with a .500-or-better record in the MVC Tournament.

A GRAND CAREER
Senior Haleigh Lankster became the 17th Shocker in history to reach 1,000 career points on Nov. 20 at UC Davis.  Lankster now has 1,240 career points to pass Crystal Westfield (1984-88) for 10th place. Ann Hollingsworth (1991-95) is 9th with 1,272.  

(DON'T) STOP THIEF!
Lankster is also moving up the steals chart at WSU.  The senior has two games this year with six steals and has collected 232 for her career to pass Karen Lewis (1992-95) for 3rd.  Allison Daniel (1982-86) is 2nd with 246 and LaTeesha Hill (1996-00) holds the school record with 300 steals.

 
SCOREBOARD
While Lankster has led the team in scoring the last two seasons, Jessica Diamond leads this year's group at 12.9 ppg.  Lankster adds 12.3 points and the Shockers overall are scoring 64.0 ppg and shooting .442 from the floor, good for 17th in the NCAA.  Chynna Turner leads the team in field goal percentage at .500 but does not have enough attempts to qualify for the national rankings.
Defensively, WSU has held 11 opponents below 60 points and for year are giving up just 58.1 points per game.  Shocker opponents are shooting .384 from the field and .288 from three-point range.
--In 14 of WSU's 15 wins, the Shockers have posted a higher shooting percentage than the opponent.

FREE THINKING
WSU is 39-3 (9-2 this year) under Jody Adams when attempting more free throws than the opponent.  In 2011-12, the Shockers have been out-shot at the line, 400-367, and own a team percentage of .722. WSU did not attempt more free throws than the opposition until the 8th game of the year, Dec. 7 at Kansas State, but have turned the tables and shot more freebies than the other team in 11 of the 15 games since. The Shockers have connected on 76.5% of their free throws in Valley competition (153-200), with Lankster knocking down 43 of her 49 attempts (.878).   

BOARDING
Through 22 games in 2011-12, WSU has the slight edge on the glass, 787-775 overall, an advantage of +0.5 rebounds per game. The Shocks have been out-rebounded in 6 of the last 7 games. The Shockers were out-rebounded overall last year, 38.8-36.3, and will be without last year's leading rebounder, Michelle Price (4.9 rpg), for the season due to injury.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
In 22 games this year, the Shockers have forced 411 turnovers and committed 381 (18.7-17.3).  WSU won its first 9 games this year when committing fewer turnovers than the opponent but have now dropped 2 of the last 4. Last year's WSU squad forced more turnovers than they committed for the second year in a row - the first time that had happened since '96-'97 and '97-'98.   

ROAD WARRIORS
The Shockers are having almost unprecedented success on the road this season and won have nearly has many MVC road games this year (5) as in the last eight years combined (6). WSU's best road record was a 9-7 mark that included a school-record 6 MVC road wins in 1999-2000.