Four Women's Basketball Teams Begin Postseason Play Tonight
WNIT Bracket
WNIT Central
Kent State (19-12, 13-5 MAC) at Michigan (22-9, 11-5)
Ann Arbor, Michigan // Crisler Center // 7:00 pm ET
Live Stats | Watch on BTN+
Kent State
Kent State is 0-3 all time against Michigan. The two teams last met in the first round of the WNIT on March 19, 2010. The Wolverines won that game 69-34. The other two matchups were both in 1981, one in January and one in December. Those were both also played in Ann Arbor. Thursday marks the first WNIT appearance for the Flashes since 2011. That year, Kent State traveled to Duquesne for the first round and lost 64-56. They fell the year before at Michigan. Kent State's first WNIT appearance in program history was in 2004 when they went to Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia and lost 61-51. The Golden Flashes finished the season with 19 wins and their first MAC East Division title since 2005. KSU leads the country in Free Throws Made with 582 and sit in second in Free Throw Attempts with 776. MAC Player of the Year, Larissa Lurken continues to have a presence across the nation ranking in the top ten, sitting 1st in free throw attempts (319), 1st in free throw made (270), 3rd points per game (23.6), 6th in final points (733) and 10th in field goal attempts (551 total).
Michigan
For the eighth straight season, the longest streak in program history, the Wolverines are making a postseason appearance. U-M has made a run to the semifinals of the WNIT in each of the last two seasons. U-M is 11-4 in postseason action under fifth-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico. Senior Siera Thompson is on the verge of becoming Michigan's all-time leader in minutes played. Thompson enters the contest with 4,543 minutes played throughout her four-year career. Jenny Ryan (2010-13) holds the school record -- men's and women's -- with 4,558 minutes played. Thompson is also second all-time at U-M with 135 games played, two behind Madison Ristovski's (2013-16) record of 137. U-M is 14-1 at Crisler Center this season, with its 14 wins ranking second all-time for home wins in school history.
Central Michigan (23-8, 15-3 MAC) at Wright State (24-8, 15-3 Horizon)
Dayton, Ohio // Nutter Center // 7:00 pm ET
Live Stats | Watch on EPSN3
Central Michigan
Thursday’s game features two of the nation’s best rebounders in CMU’s Reyna Frost and Wright State’s Lexi Smith. Frost ranks sixth among NCAA Division I players at 11.3 boards per game, while Smith leads the nation with 6.0 offensive rebounds per game. CMU leads 2-1 in the all-time series against Wright State. The last meeting was on Dec. 20, 2011 when the Chippewas defeated the Raiders, 65-60, in Dayton, Ohio. The Chippewas are 0-7 in postseason play, which excludes the MAC Tournament. In the 2016 WNIT, Central Michigan lost in the first round to IUPUI, 63-55, in Mount Pleasant. CMU has breached the century mark in four games this season: Ball State (101 pts.), Eastern Michigan (104 pts.), and Northern Illinois twice (109 pts.). Sophomore Reyna Frost continues to dominate the boards as she ranks 11th in the nation and tied for first in the Mid-American Conference with 4.4 offensive rebounds per game. Junior guard Cassie Breen leads the MAC in 3-point field goal percentage (.402). Breen ranks third in the MAC in 3-pointers made (88) and tied for third in attempts (219). Breen ranks third in the conference and 29th in the nation with 2.8 3's per game.
Wright State
The Raiders, now 24-8, were co-champions of the Horizon League regular season. It is the first regular-season title for Wright State. It is the fourth straight year that the Raiders have won at least 20 games. Katrina Merriweather was named the league Coach of the Year while junior Chelsea Welch was selected to the first team. Three Raiders average in double figures: Chelsea Welch (18.6), Lexi Smith (12.9), Emily Vogelpohl (11.0). Symone Simmons (9.1) and Smith (8.9) lead the Raiders in rebounding. Simmons is at 9.7 points per game while Taylor Mackenzie sits at 9.4. Smith was selected to the All-Horizon League Tournament Team.
Ball State (21-10, 14-4 MAC) at Indiana (20-10, 10-6)
Bloomington, Indiana // Assembly Hall // 7:00 pm ET
Live Stats | Watch on BTN+
Ball State
This marks the fourth time out of the last five years Ball State has faced a Big Ten opponent in the WNIT first round. The Cardinals defeated Minne- sota (54-51) in 2013, fell to Northwestern (69-65) in 2014 and then earned a 77-72 victory at Iowa last season. Ball State has competed against one Big Ten opponent this season when it suffered a 58-42 loss at home against Purdue, Dec. 8. The Cardinals are the first Mid-American Conference oppo- nent Indiana has met this season. Last week at the MAC Tournament, Moriah Monaco broke the school record for single-season 3-pointers (98). Senior Renee Bennett moved up to second place all-time in program history for career blocks, with 103 on the season. Head Coach Brady Sallee is the only head coach in program history to have five consecutive winning seasons — 17-16 (2012-13), 18-17 (2013-14), 17-14 (2014-15), 21-8 (2015-16) and 21-10 (2016-17).
Indiana
Indiana returns to the postseason for the second-straight year and third time in four years when it hosts Ball State in the WNIT First Round on Thursday. IU is 9-7 overall in the tournament, which is in its 19th year. Indiana secured more history in the regular season finale as a win over Illinois marked its 20th of the season. It comes as the Hoosiers win 20 games for the second-straight season for the first time ever. With the addition of Amanda Cahill as the 26th member of the 1,000-point club on Dec. 21, IU's roster now features three active players on the all-time scoring list at the same time for the first time ever; Tyra Buss – 1,538 (10th), Alexis Gassion – 1,302 (13th) and Amanda Cahill – 1,268 (14th). In addition to three active players on the all-time scoring list, IU also has three active players on the all-time career blocks list. Senior guard Alexis Gassion leads the trio of players with 81 career swats, which ranks eighth all time. Junior forward Amanda Cahill also registers on the list with 80 blocks, which ranks eighth while senior center Jenn Anderson has tallied 56 blocks in her career which is 11th all-time.
Northern Illinois (21-11, 12-6 MAC) at South Dakota State (22-8, 11-4 Summit)
Brookings, SD // Frost Arena // 8:00 pm ET
Live Stats
Northern Illinois
Coming off their best postseason performance since 1995, the Huskies are making their first postseason appearance since that same season. NIU has overcome double digit deficits six times this season and 12 times in the last four seasons, including a 22-point comeback versus Ohio in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinal. The 22-point comeback tied for the largest in NCAA Division I postseason history, matching the feat of Washington versus Oregon in the First Round of the Pac-12 Tournament. NIU is No. 5 in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 85.1 points per game, and have scored at least 90 points 10 times. The Huskies scoring average is currently the fourth-best in Mid-American Conference history and highest clip since Toledo averaged 83.6 in 1996-97. Northern Illinois University is the only team in the country with five players averaging 10-or-more points per game. Point guard Ally Lehman enters the tournament 16 rebounds shy of becoming just the fourth player in NCAA history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds an 500 assists in a career. Lehman is the only Division I player with 500 points, 300 rebounds and 200 assists this season. Renee Sladek averaged 10.3 points per game off the bench in the MAC Tournament, shooting 68.4 percent from the field. She is coming off a career-best performance of 15 points in the championship.
South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits recorded their 20th overall win and sixth consecutive 20-win season Feb. 18. The Jackrabbits have limited their last five opponents to 62.2 points per game, outscoring them by 9.2 points per outing and outrebounding their foes by 10.2 caroms. SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston, who won his 400th career game Dec. 11, enters Thursday's game with a 414-141 (.745) overall record and a 139-29 (.827) league mark. SDSU has had three starting lineups after the Jackrabbits' leading scoring Macy Miller and leading rebounder Clarissa Ober suffered injuries that forced them from the starting five. Guebert is currently SDSU's leading scorer, averaging 15.0 points per game. Young (13.3), Thompson (13.3) and Ober (10.0) are the other Jacks averaging double digits in scoring. SDSU averages 70.1 points per game. Four Jackrabbits have led the team in scoring this season. State has held 23 of its 30 opponents to 65-or-fewer points, including eight to less than 50.
