Women's Basketball set for second round meeting with Missouri State

Wednesday, March 24

San Antonio, TX / UTSA Convocation Center

3:00 PM

Wright State University

Missouri State

Women's Basketball set for second round meeting with Missouri State

3/23/2021 2:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Watch on ESPNU Live Stats Game Notes

The Wright State women's basketball team is set to play in the second round of the NCAA Championship on Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 13-seeded Raiders take on No. 5 Missouri State in San Antonio as part of the Alamo Region. Wright State led for over 38 minutes on Monday afternoon on the way to a 66-62 opening round win over No. 4-seed Arkansas, while Missouri State defeated No. 12 seed UC Davis 70-51 on Monday night.

With their win on Monday, the Raiders pulled off the first win by a No. 13 seed over a No. 4 since 2012. Coming into this year's tournament, No. 13 seeds were just 9-104 all-time.

Wednesday's tip is set for 3 p.m. ET and will be carried nationally on ESPNU. Fans can also follow Live Stats during the contest and keep up with the team via social media. For more information, follow the Women's Basketball team on Twitter and on Instagram and like Wright State University Athletics on Facebook.

WEDNESDAY: WATCH ON ESPNU | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES

Last time out, Wright State tallied its first NCAA Championship win in program history, scoring the first five points of the contest and led throughout the contest, with a couple ties sprinkled in, until Arkansas took a one-point lead at 59-58 with 1:51 remaining. From there, Wright State closed the game on an 8-2 run, including the final five points in the last 29 seconds. Angel Baker knocked down a contested three-pointer in front of the Raider bench with 29 seconds to play, giving Wright State the lead for the final time. Jada Roberson knocked down two free throws with eight seconds remaining to ice the contest. Baker finished with the game's only double-double, tallying 26 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Raiders, while Emani Jefferson also finished in double-digits with 13 points as Wright State had scoring contributions from seven different players.

SCOUTING THE LADY BEARS
The No. 17/20 Missouri State Lady Bears are in the Second Round of the NCAA Championship for the ninth time in school history. Missouri State boasts a rich NCAA Tournament history with 16 total appearances, Final Four trips in 1992 and 2001, and Sweet 16 appearances in 1993 and 2019. The Lady Bears are 17-15 all-time in NCAA play, with records of 9-7 in the first round, 4-4 in the second round, 2-2 in the Sweet 16, 2-0 in the Elite 8, and 0-2 in the Final Four. Missouri State has won the rebounding battle in 21 of 24 games this year and 47 of the last 54, with a plus-11.2 margin this season on pace for a school record and a .803 defensive rebounding percentage that ranks second nationally after leading the NCAA last year with a .773 mark.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Wright State's win over No. 4-seed Arkansas in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Championship on Monday afternoon for the Raiders' first NCAA win in program history, head coach Katrina Merriweather and Angel Baker met with the national media to talk about the win and moving on to the second round.

DOUBLE-DIGIT BAKER
Monday's NCAA First Round win was Angel Baker's 11th game this season with 20-plus points, and her sixth straight game with 20 or more points. Baker has reached double digits scoring in 22 of her 24 contests this season, with her single digit performances coming on back-to-back days against the same opponent (Detroit Mercy – Dec. 12, 7pts.; Dec. 13, 9pts.). Monday was just Baker's second time this season with double-digit rebounds, with both instances leading to double-doubles – season-opener vs. Bradley (Dec. 2) and vs. Arkansas.

MVP-Level
Over her last four games (Horizon League tournament & NCAA First Round), Angel Baker is averaging 25.3 points/game and playing just under 39 minutes. Baker averaged 17.1 points per game in the regular season before dropping 23 points, 29 points and 23 points in the Horizon tournament. She was also efficient in the HL tourney – shooting 55.9% from the floor in the tournament after connecting at a 40.5% rate in the regular season.

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM
Wright State's win on Monday was their first win in three trips to the NCAA Championship – ironically, they were all played on March 22. The Raiders previously lost in the NCAA First Round at Kentucky on March 22, 2014 and at Texas A&M on March 22, 2019.

FIRST (BUT FOURTH) WIN
Wright State's First Round win over Arkansas was the program's first NCAA win, but the Raiders' fourth postseason win overall. Previously, Wright State had postseason wins over Buffalo (March 16, 2011; Women's Basketball Invitational), SIU Edwardsville (March 15, 2012; Women's Basketball Invitational) and Central Michigan (March 16, 2017; WNIT).

BY LEAPS AND REBOUNDS
As a team, Wright State is currently ranked No. 7 in the country for total rebounds with 1,132 so far this season. Offensively, the Raiders are ranked No. 5 in the country, averaging 16.5 rebounds per game which also leads the Horizon League. The Raiders currently sit nationally ranked at No. 7 (1st in HL) in the rebound margin, outrebounding opponents by 12.4 rebounds per game. Wright State is averaging 43.54 rebounds per game, which currently ranks them No. 11 nationally and first in the Horizon League.

NO STRANGERS TO THE POSTSEASON
Making its second NCAA appearance in three seasons, and third appearance overall, Wright State is no stranger to postseason play, having seen its name in either the NCAA tournament field or WNIT field five of the last six seasons. The Raiders made three consecutive WNIT appearances in 2016, 2017, and 2018, earning a first round victory in the 2017 tournament. Over the past six seasons, Wright State is a combined 136-57 record with a pair of Horizon League regular season and tournament titles.

WONDER WOMEN
When Wright State takes the court in the NCAA Championship, the sidelines will feature an interesting sight as well. The Raiders are one of only six programs in the 2021 tournament with an all-female coaching staff. The Raiders are joined by: Stanford, UCF, Georgia Tech, High Point and Central Michigan.

MERRIWEATHER MAGIC
For the third time in five seasons, head coach Katrina Merriweather was selected as the Horizon League Coach of the Year by her peers. She previously collected the award following the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons. The Indianapolis native tallied her 100th career coaching victory (64-46) on the road at Cleveland State, as the Raiders swept the weekend series over the Vikings on January 9. Merriweather took over the Wright State program in 2016 and hasn't stopped running since. The Raiders have found themselves in the postseason three times in five seasons under Merriweather (WNIT '17, '18 & NCAA '19).