TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State women's basketball returns to the hardwood in a Sunday afternoon matinee with Wichita State. The Shockers and Sycamores will tipoff at 3 p.m. ET inside Koch Arena. The game can be seen world-wide on The Valley On ESPN3 and can be heard in the Wabash Valley on WIBQ 1230 AM with Luke Martin on the call.
 
LOOKING AT WICHITA STATE
The Shockers come into Friday with a 13-13 overall record, and an 8-7 mark in MVC play. WSU is riding two straight wins over the likes of Illinois State and Loyola. The Shockers are led by Rangie Bessard with 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Sycamores lead the all-time series against the Shockers, 36-34. The Shockers defeated ISU in Terre Haute earlier (1/27) this season 56-42 and have won eight of the last 10 games played in the series.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Sycamores came up short in Springfield, falling to Missouri State, 73-63. Ashley Taia led the charge for the Trees with 18 points while sophomore Tierra Webb added 11. ISU cut the Lady Bear lead to just three points with under two minutes remaining but MSU took control and connected on 10 free throws to close out the game.
 
PUTTING ON THE CLAMPS
The Sycamores lead the Missouri Valley Conference, holding opponents just 57.4 points per game this season. Indiana State is also leading the conference field goal percent defense, allowing the opposition to shoot just 35 percent from the floor. Indiana State is 9-6 when holding opponents under 60 points.
 
CONSISTENCY
Ashley Taia, the Sycamores' leading scorer has been the most consistent offense for ISU this season. Taia has scored in double-figures 17 times including a career high 26 points at Southern Illinois on New Year's Day. The Brisbane, Australia ranks ninth in the MVC in scoring at 12.6 points per game.
 
REBOUND AND WIN
The Sycamores are 8-4 when cleaning up on the glass this season and just 4-10 when getting outrebounded. As a team ISU sit at fourth place in the conference with 38.5 rebounds per contest while sitting second in the MVC with 27 defensive rebounds per game. Junior forward Wendi Bibbins leads the Sycamores with 8.4 rebounds per contest.
 
DOMINATE THE PAINT
Junior forward Wendi Bibbins continued her dominance of the paint for Indiana State against Illinois State (2/3) in Normal as she scored a career high 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds; one shy of a career high. The Harvey, Louisiana native recorded her third double-double of the season in the game. In just 18 minutes of action in the first half, Bibbins had 15 points and nine boards to lead the Sycamores. For her efforts, Bibbins was awarded with MVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the second time this season.
 
BREAKOUT GAME
Regan Wentland picked up her first career start Sunday against Loyola (2/12) and made it count. The sophomore set career highs in rebounds, assists and blocks in the contest. In total she grabbed 13 rebounds with five on the offensive end. She assisted on seven of the teams' 15 assists and blocked three shots in the game.
 
DEFENSIVE INTENSITY
Indiana State played one of its most consistent defensive games of the season against the Ramblers (2/12), holding Loyola to just 32 points. The Sycamores did not allow LUC to score in double-digits for three quarters and allowed only 12 points in the second half of play. The Sycamores went for eight blocks in the game with Regan Wentland and Rhagen Smith picking up three each.
 
SWAT TEAM
Indiana State as a whole has recorded 97 blocks as a team this year to lead the Missouri Valley. Their 3.7 blocks per game third-best in the MVC behind Illinois State and Missouri State. The Sycamores top paint protector is Rhagen Smith with 24 blocks this year. Her counterpart in Wendi Bibbins adds 22 total blocks to the squad.  A total of 11 players have recorded blocks this year for the Sycamores.
 
CAREER NOTES
Junior Brooklyn Artis tied a career high with two made 3-pointers in the Sycamores' last outing at Missouri State.
 
FREE BASKETBALL
The Sycamores fell to 26-24 all-time in overtime games and 9-10 in overtime games against Missouri Valley Conference opponents after falling to UNI (2/19) inside the Hulman Center. It was the fifth overtime in the last three seasons and the first overtime loss under head coach Joey Wells. As a team, Indiana State had not lost an overtime game since 2008 when ISU fell to Arkansas State.
 
SYCAMORES PICKED SIXTH
The Indiana State women's basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference's annual preseason poll, the conference office announced Tuesday prior to the league's annual tip-off event. Drake was picked to win the league after picking up 34 of the 40 total first-place votes followed by Northern Iowa, Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Wichita State to round out the top five. Bradley was selected seventh followed by the Illinois State, Evansville and Loyola to round out the poll.
 
HOOPS IN THE HEARTLAND
The 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament will return to the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill., for the second of a three-year contract with the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau. Affectionately coined "Hoops in the Heartland," the four-day event (Mar. 9-12) will showcase all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools as they compete for the Valley's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
RADIO SHOW
Head coach Joey Wells will join play-by-play voice Brian Fritz every Monday at 6:30 p.m. live from 7th & Elm Bar & Grill in Terre Haute. The show will air live on WIBQ 1230 in the Wabash Valley.
 
THE VALLEY ON ESPN3
Last year, ESPN and the Missouri Valley Conference announced a 10-year extension to their current media rights agreement that will provide increased coverage of conference events across ESPN platforms through the 2023-24 academic year. The co-branded The Valley on ESPN3 network will allow for all home women's basketball contests to be available for viewing on ESPN3.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.