Northern Iowa

For the first time in school history the Wichita State women's basketball team has started Missouri Valley Conference play with a perfect 8-0 record. Wichita State beat Illinois State 66-54 on Friday night to keep their umblemished record.  The game was a rematch of last year when the Shockers lost to the Redbirds, thus falling to 7-1 on the Valley season. Alex Harden was dominant for the Shockers especially in the second half.  She finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds for Wichita State.  Four different Shockers scored in double-digits against Illinois State:  Jessica Diamond had 15, Jazimen Gordon had 13 and Darrice Fountaine finished with 10 points.

KU basketball fans gathered at “The Wheel” a historic on campus bar to watch the Jayhawks attempt to book their spot to the “Final Four”. The KU faithful was treated to a rude awakening as underdog Virginia Commonwealth University pulled off one of the more amazing upset in college basketball history.  Top seeded KU saw their season come to an end as VCU stunned KU by a final of 61-51. Eyewitness News spoke to some fans following the loss…most seamed drained from what was an emotional up and down game.

The Wichita State Lady Shockers may have earned their Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title but now they have their sights set on the tournament crown. The Lady Shocks earned a bye with their No. 1 seed bid to the tournament and had to battle Drake in the second round of the bracket. Despite an early battle the Lady Shockers took control late in the second half to defeat the Lady Bulldogs 73-58. Click here to view the bracket. Drake jumped out to a quick start on Wichita State with an eight point lead late in the first half.

A visit from perennial women's college basketball power Louisiana State University highlights the 2011-12 Wichita State non-conference schedule.  The Shockers will play 14 home games overall and are coming off the second-best two-year win total in program history and a trip to the 2011 WNIT.   The home opener for Wichita State is Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2:05 p.m. against Northwestern State with the LSU matchup following closely behind on Monday, Nov. 14 at 7:05 p.m. The Tigers are coached by Nikki Caldwell in her first season in Baton Rouge.

Wichita State defeated the UNI Panthers, 5-2 on Sunday afternoon to clinch the 2011 MVC regular season title. The Shockers dropped the doubles point to the Panthers but bounced back in the singles with five wins. “UNI played a great match,” head coach Colin Foster said.  “They made us earn every point we showed resilience after dropping a disappointing doubles point.”  Carla and Raphaela both had their backs against the wall and I’m just proud of the way everyone fought like crazy today.” Next action for Wichita State will be at the Missouri Valley Championships next weekend in St. Louis.  The Shockers were the 2010 MVC tournament champions and will be favored again this year as the No. 1 overall seed.

Update: Carl Hall led the Shockers with 18 points while Ron Baker dropped in 15 in his first game back as Wichita State beat Missouri State 69 to 59 to advance to the semi-finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.  The Shockers overcame an amazing performance by the Bears' Marcus Marshall who scored 25 points. Click here to read the post game comments Click here to see the final box score Wichita State pounded the boards and outrebounded Missouri State 43-24, including 18 offensive rebounds.  The Shocks also got 37 points off the bench to the Bears' 6.  Wichita State advances to face the winner of the Illinois State vs Northern Iowa game.  The Shockers' next game will be at 4:05 pm Saturday.

(WICHITA, Kan.) The Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball championship didn't just get fans' attention.  The game drew a lot of interest from both past and future Shockers. Evan Wessel's a point guard for Wichita Heights High School, and he's already committed to Wichita State's 2011 recruiting class.  Wessel watched the game Sunday hoping to take the court someday with several current underclassmen like Toure Murry, Garrett Stutz, and Demetric Williams. "To see how they're really stepping up when they're just sophomores and freshmen, it just really shows how great of players they can be," says Wessel.

Around the Wichita Boathouse, the sound of pounding nails into the wall echoed over the second floor.  This is basketball drill work -- of a different sort. At Monday evening's watch party, all the watching, the waiting, and the cheering were all warm-ups for what will come next week. "You've had to plan hotels," said Eric Sexton, WSU Athletic Director.  The General Manager of the Intrust Bank Arena noted "we definitely polishing floors. " On Monday, the city of Wichita learned who would play in the first round of the Women's NCAA Tournament:     University of Northern Iowa     Michigan State     University of Arkansas- Little Rock     Green Bay.       "We've worked all this time to put all the puzzle pieces in place," said Sexton, referring to the time before the teams were announced, "so then we're ready when our guests come.

Wichita State's Aliphine Tuliamuk set a meet record as she and fellow Shocker Cassie Craig won Missouri Valley Conference titles Friday during the first day of the 2012 State Farm MVC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Cessna Stadium. Tuliamuk, a junior from Kapenguria, Kenya, set a MVC meet record in the women's 10,000 meters with her title-winning time of 34:53.20. The all-American entered the race with the fourth-fastest women's 10K time in the nation this season. Wichita State's Cassie Craig, a senior, won the conference title in the women's pole vault with a personal-best mark of 13-4 1/2 Friday.

I actually like KU's Adidas uniforms they're wearing at the Big 12 Tournament, I'm not sure I want to see them every day.   I know I don't want to see Notre Dame's ever again; I wouldn't use them to line my cat litter. KU-K-State I would bet against both of them reaching the final in Kansas City, but I hope they do.  I'm not sure why Bruce Weber continues to open his mouth, but what comes out of it seems to be fueling some fire.  The Kansas State Coach told a reporter that he'd hoped to celebrate Kansas State's basketball title a week ago, but that bad officiating in the Iowa State - Kansas game took care of that.  After the rivals both lost last weekend, they ended up sharing the title - something that KSU has celebrated widely, while KU, with nine of them in a row, has barely noticed---barely.  That KU players and even Bill Self are reacting to it shows that Weber is getting under their skin - a little.   I'm pretty sure that's a good thing for a rivalry that's been one in mane only for far too long.  You can't tell me that KU fan doesn't want to get KSU one more time---just to reacquaint them with the pecking order.  That would make Sunday interesting, even though both team's tickets to the NCAA have long been punched.