HBU Huskies to face Toledo Rockets in first round of WNIT

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

AKRON, OHIO (March 18, 2022) The HBU Huskies women's basketball team will face the Toledo Rockets at 6 p.m. CT at Akron's Savage Arena in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Huskies were the Southland Conference regular season champions and had an early exit from the conference tournament to eventual champions Incarnate Word Lady Cardinals, dropping their semifinal game 54-33.

The Huskies were 16-10 for the 2022 season with a 12-2 conference record and will be facing a 26-5 Toledo team who was 19-1 in conference play before going 1-1 in the Mid-America Conference tournament. They dropped a 71-66 decision to Ball State. The WNIT first round match-up will be the first meeting between the two squads and the first NCAA post-season appearance for the Huskies. 

The Huskies are led by Southland Conference Player of the Year Timia Jefferson who averaged 12.7 points per game for the season. She was aided by N'Denasija Collins, who averaged 9.4 points per game while pulling in 6.4 rebounds and shooting 35 percent from the field. Marilyn Nzoiwu pulled down 7.4 rebounds per game to lead HBU. Abbey Sutherland is tied with Nzoiwu for the team lead in blocks with 32.

Toledo was led this season by Quenesha Lockett who averaged 17.5 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Rockets. Sophia Wiard drops in 12.8 points per game for Toledo and leads the rockets in assists with 137.

The game can be viewed on ESPN3.

Missouri State Beats Rice 76-65 in WNIT

SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI (March 11, 2011) The Rice Owls played hard and hustled but it was not enough, as Missouri State defeated Rice 76-65 in the Women?s National Invitational Tournament at the JQH Arena in front of 1,459 fans. The Owls end their season at 18-14, while the Lady Bears improve to 24-10. Rice?s Jessica Kuster posted her 13th double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

It was the Owls 10th post-season appearance and seventh in the WNIT. It was also the third WNIT appearance for the program under head coach Greg Williams.

Also in double-digits for Rice was sophomore guard Jessica Goswitz with 13 points and Morgan Mayse with 12 points. Mayse also had 6 rebounds and D?Frantz Smart scored 8 points.

The Lady Bears received 18 points from Casey Garrison, while Whitney Edie and Lacey Bosche scored 13 points each and Christiana Shorter added 12 points. Garrison also had 9 assists and 8 rebounds.

It was a tight game in the first half with both teams trading baskets. Morgan Mayse hit a jumper and a long trey to tie the game at 14. The Owls then recaptured the lead (20-18) when Mayse once again drained a three-pointer and Elliott scored on a driving lay up. Rice went up five (25-20) on a jumper by Amenemope McKinney with the one tick on the shot clock and a three-pointer by D?Frantz Smart on the left wing.

The Owls were up 34-30 (2:37) after Kuster canned her fourth basket, a jumper near the top-of-the-key. The Lady Bears then closed the half on a 7-0 run to forge a 37-30 half-time lead. Rice made 5-9 from three-point for 55.6 percent and shot 40.6 overall (13-32). Missouri State shot 50 percent from the field (16-32) and was 0-4 from three-point range.

The Lady Bears opened the second half on an 8-2 run for a 45-36 lead. A free throw by Memri Carmon and a trey by Carmon brought the Owls back to 45-40. A trey by Elliott brought Rice to within two at 58-56. Missouri State then countered with a basket down low and a three-pointer from the left wing. Goswitz made two free throws and three-pointer to bring the Owls close once again at 63-61 (3:48), but the Lady Bears went on a 13-4 run for the final 76-65 margin.

The Owls only shot 30.3 percent (10-33) and 3-11 (27.3 percent) from three-point range in the second-half. Rice finished at 35.4 percent overall from the field. Missouri State finished at 46 percent (29-63) after making 13-31 in the second-half (41.9 percent).

UTEP and SMU Women Set for NCAA Hoops Action

IRVING, TEXAS (March 18, 2008) Conference USA will send three women’s basketball teams to postseason play as UTEP and SMU accepted bids to the NCAA Championship, while Southern Miss will participate in the WNIT. C-USA will be sending two teams in the national tournament for the first time since 2005.

SMU (24-8), who earned C-USA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, earned a 12th seed in the Oklahoma City Regional and will face No. 5 seed Notre Dame (23-8) on Sunday, March 23 at 2:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by ESPN inside the Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., on the campus of Purdue University.

The winner of that game will advance to take on the winner of the No. 4 seed Oklahoma/No. 13 seed Illinois State contest in the second round on Tues., March 25.

SMU, who has won 10 of its past 12 games, has a prolific offensive attack, averaging 74 points per game on 42 percent shooting from the floor. The Mustangs limits their opposition to 64 ppg. SMU is led by first-team all-league honoree Janielle Dodds' 15 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Delisha Wills is also in double figures, chipping in 12 ppg.

SMU won its first C-USA title and became the first team in the league to win a tournament crown after losing its last two regular season games. The Mustangs last conference championship came in 1998-99 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

The teams have met twice before: Notre Dame came out on top, 76-60, in South Bend, Ind., in the 1981-82 season, and the Mustangs prevailed two years later, 64-63, at Moody Coliseum.

Notre Dame is ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. The Irish started the season on a hot streak, winning 12 of their first 13 games, including 10 straight. They then lost four of their next seven games, including showdowns with traditional powers Tennessee and Connecticut. The Irish have three players averaging double digits in scoring: Charel Allen (14.5 ppg), Ashley Barlow (11.7) and Lindsay Schrader (10.4).

Earning an at-large bid to the “Big Dance” is C-USA’s regular season champion UTEP (27-3). The No. 7 seed Miners will face No. 10th seed Western Kentucky (26-7) in the Spokane Regional Saturday in Stanford, Calif. The game will be televised by ESPN2 with an approximate tip time of 10:30 p.m. EST.

Western Kentucky was the Sun Belt Conference's East Division champion with a 16-2 record. The Lady Toppers beat Middle Tennessee, 65-49, to capture the conference tournament title on March 11 in Mobile.

WKU is led by senior forward Crystal Kelly, who averages 22.7 ppg to rank sixth in the nation. She is also averaging 10.6 rebounds, eighth in the country, and tops the NCAA with a .649 field goal percentage. The 6-3 Kelly is one of four Lady Topper players with double figure scoring averages. The Lady Toppers are eighth in the nation in field goal percentage (.468) and 10th in rebound margin (+7.6 rpg).

The winner of Saturday's game will meet either No. 2 seed Stanford (30-3) or 15th-seed Cleveland State (19-13) on Monday, March 24.

The Miners were the first program in league history to go through the conference schedule unbeaten and established a league-best 23-game winning streak.

In WNIT action, Southern Miss earned the league’s automatic bid and will find out its destination late Monday night. C-USA also has hopes for Marshall and Tulane earning a WNIT at-large bid.

The WNIT expanded its field to 48 teams in 2006-07. The eight-team expansion allows for an automatic bid from every conference (31). The 2008 Postseason WNIT will feature 16 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and the championship. All games in the single-elimination format are played at the home facilities of participating schools.