After a major roster shake-up, Wichita State women’s basketball enters the 2025-26 season with a retooled roster and a renewed focus on chemistry, defense and winning – all under third-year head coach Terry Nooner’s leadership. 

After eight players entered the transfer portal last spring, including Second Team All-American Conference selection Jayla Murray and consistent scorer Salese Blow, the Shockers return just four players from last season’s lineup: guards Kyleigh Ortiz and Friona Diomande, and forwards Bre’Yon White and Maimouna Sissoko. 

Those four accounted for 9.6% of the team’s total scoring and 13.1% of its minutes last season, leaving Nooner and his staff to rebuild through the transfer portal and junior college ranks. 

New faces, new focus

Among the newcomers is Wichita native and graduate transfer guard Jaila Harding, who returns home after stints at Butler Community College and New Mexico State. Harding brings experience and outside shooting – she led the Aggies in 3-point percentage (35.7%) last season and ranked fourth in Conference USA in threes per game (61). 

“I mean, I think we all want to win a conference championship,” Harding said. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

For Harding, success this season comes down to teamwork and energy. 

“I think, for me, that’s most important (winning a conference championship),” Harding said. “I’m all about the team, so us winning is most important to me.”

Harding said the team has focused on defensive intensity and transition play during early practices.

“We want to attack the ball, we want to trap, we want to get after it,” Harding said. “And then offense, we want to run the floor and get open looks in transition.”

The Shockers’ revamped roster also features graduate transfers Sophia Benharouga from Seattle University and Cheyenne Banks from Central Arkansas, as well as junior college standouts Jaida McDonald (Pensacola State) and Bella Belong (South Plains College).

McDonald led the Pirates last season with averages of 14.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and was First Team All-Panhandle. Belong averaged a double-double with 11.9 points and 11.1 rebounds a game.

Building chemistry

With so many new faces, off-the-court bonding has been a key part of the rebuilding process. Harding said outings like team trips to the Wichita farmer’s market have helped the group connect.

“I love the farmer’s market,” Harding said. “It’s not actually something I used to go to before I came back home, and now I’m getting the chance to explore it. And my teammates love to get out there and see what’s new in Wichita, and I’m right there with them.”

She said those experiences off the court translate to easier communication on it.

“Once you get to know the little things about someone, you understand how you can talk to them on the court, the way they best respond, and that’s extremely important in game situations,” Harding said. 

Returner Bre’Yon White, who led Wichita State in rebounding in nine games last season, said the team’s energy and competitiveness already feel different compared to last year.  

“I think everybody’s more competitive, more hungry,” White said. “(We) have a better drive and wanted to compete against each other, and then against each other as well.”

White said the transition for the newcomers has been “easier than expected.” 

“I mean the whole team is pretty much new, except for four returners. We’ve been able to gel really well and we all get along,” White said. “We all have fun off the court. I think hanging out with each other and doing little things has helped us build our bond.”

White added that consistency and effort have been the team’s main points of emphasis in the preseason workouts and practices, with both veterans and newcomers eyeing the same goal — a conference championship. 

“If you can keep a team from scoring and you outscore them, I mean you win in the end,” White said. “But just being aggressive on defense is our key. Just focusing on defense because defense wins games.”

Harding echoed that sentiment. 

“Of course we want to be competitive on the court, we want to make each other better,” Harding said. “But off the court, we realize we’re here together — we’re all going through this together. It’s tough being a student athlete, but we’re basically sisters. And that’s important, it’s going to translate on the court as well.”

As the Shockers prepare for their first season together, both Harding and White agree on what would make it a success. 

“A championship,” Harding said. 

White nodded to growth and the same end goal. 

“I would say getting the championship. I mean, who wouldn’t want that?” White said. “But also just being able to grow with each other, and improve our game overall as a team, and then individually for everybody.” 

With that goal in mind, the Shockers start their journey with a game against Lincoln, a Division II school in Missouri, on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Koch Arena.