Bowling Green vs. Creighton I 3:00 PM I Rockford, IL I WATCH: FloHoops I Live Stats: WomensNIT.com
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team returns to national postseason play for the first time in seven years. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons, the Mid-American Conference regular-season champions, head to Rockford, Ill., for the WNIT. BGSU will meet Creighton on Friday (March 19), with tipoff time set for 2:00 p.m. locally (3:00 p.m. ET) at the UW Health Sports Factory.
Then, on Saturday (March 20), the Falcons will face either Dayton or Northern Iowa, with tipoff time depending upon Friday's outcomes. Four of the eight teams will remain in Rockford and play a third game on Monday (March 22).
The Falcons, after going 10-21 overall and 3-15 in the MAC last year, were picked to finish 11th in the 12-team league in '20-21, according to the preseason coaches' poll. BG proceeded to post a 14-4 MAC record to win the regular-season crown. Then, the Orange and Brown defeated Eastern Michigan and Buffalo in the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, before falling to Central Michigan in the championship game. BG is 20-6 overall entering Friday's Creighton contest.
Ohio vs. Clemson I 2:00 PM I Charlotte, NC I WATCH: FloHoops I Live Stats: WomensNIT.com
The Ohio women's basketball team will begin the Women's NIT on Friday against Clemson at 2 p.m. inside the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. The game can be watched live on FloHoops with Jake Hromada on the call, and can be heard live on 1340 WOUB AM with Brad Walker on the call. Ohio has appeared in the WNIT four times, coming in 2016, 2017, 2019 and this season. The Bobcats are 4-3 in the WNIT, and made it to the round of eight in the WNIT in 2019 after beating High Point, MTSU and Western Kentucky before falling Northwestern on the road.
Senior guard Cece Hooks was named Honorable Mention All-America by the Associated Press. Hooks is the first All-American from Ohio since 1986, when Caroline Mast won the honor.
Hooks produced one of the best individual seasons in Ohio women's basketball history. The Dayton, Ohio native was named MAC Player of the Week a league-high five times this season and is currently ranked third in the nation in points per game at 25.9. Hooks had 19 games of 20 points or more and five with 30 or more. Hooks was the second player in program history to record a triple-double and one of just 12 players in the nation after scoring 31 points, 11 assists and 10 steals against Miami. Her 10 steals were a single-game school record. Hooks became the second 2,000 point scorer in program history when she posted 22 points at Ball State. Only Mast – the three-time Player of the Year – has reached the 2,000-point feat. Hooks – who already owns the all-time single-game scoring record – posted the fourth-highest single-game mark with 38 points against Akron. During the regular season, Hooks averaged 26.3 points 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 4.1 assists. On the defensive side, Hooks has 84 steals this season and is averaging 3.8 steals per game, her highest game average in her four-year career.
