INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The four seed Wright State women's basketball team travels to Indy for the Horizon League Semifinals for their matchup against top seed Cleveland State in the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The game will stream on ESPN+ with live stats provided as well.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Monday, March 11 - 12:00 p.m. - Tickets - Watch - Live Stats - WSU Game Notes
 
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 4-seeded Wright State secured their spot in Indianapolis by defeating the No. 5-seeded Milwaukee 70-60 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals.
 
After being down at the half in the neck-and-neck game, Wright State overpowered Milwaukee, holding the Panthers to just 18.8 percent from the floor in the final ten minutes of the game (3-of-16). The Raiders gained their game-winning lead in the fourth quarter, making a majority of their points off fouls, going 11-of-12 on the line, and shooting 31.3 percent overall.
 
Leading the way for Wright State was Alexis Hutchison, recording 23 points on the night. Layne Ferrell and Cara VanKempen also contributed double-digit scoring, recording 17 and 11 points, respectively. Rachel Loobie also saw double-digit stats, putting up 10 rebounds on the night. Also at the top of the Raider rebounders was Ferrell with eight, and Hutchison with seven. Kacee Baumhower led the team with six assists, while Hutchison followed with four and Ferrell with three. Baumhower, Hutchison, Loobie, and Jada Tate each recorded two steals, with Farrell and Loobie putting up blocks, two and three respectively. Hutchison and Ferrell both shot a perfect six-of-six from the line.
 
2K CAREER POINTS
In the final 90 seconds of the quarterfinal game, Alexis Hutchison reached 2000 career points. Going up to the line six times in the final quarter, Hutchison reached the career milestone after drawing her fifth personal foul. The graduate student has put up her best colligate scoring season to date, averaging 19.2 points per game, with 615 points on the season.
 
KNOW THE FOE
-  Cleveland St. is currently 28-4 overall, went 18-2 in the Horizon League, while going 9-3 on the road.
-  Senior Michayla Perdue leads the Vikings in scoring, with 551 total points this season, averaging 17.2 points per game, placing her second in the HL. She is fourth, shooting 47.4 percent overall, while her 38.6 from beyond the arc ranks her first in the league.
-  Carmen Villalobos leads the team and is sixth in the league with her 6.8 rebounds per game. Sitting third in the HL with 4.3 assists per game is Colbi Maples.
-  The Vikings lead the HL in scoring, with a 75.3 points per game average. They are second shooting 46.8 from the floor, and lead with their 37.1 three-point percentage. Cleveland is second in the league in rebounding (37.4/game) and in steals (9.31/game).
 
VERSUS THE VIKINGS
Wright State dropped both regular season meetings against Cleveland State, falling 72-61 at home on January 17 before a 71-59 road defeat on February 7, but saw several performances stand out.
 
- Layne Ferrell had two double-digit scoring games (15pts on Jan. 17, 17pts on Feb. 7) while she shot 57 percent across the two games.
- Lauren Scott, averaging 7.1 points per game on the season, turned in 10 points in the first meeting and had 9 points in the second meeting.
- Jada Tate, averaging 3.8 rebounds per game on the season, grabbed 9 rebounds in the first meeting and had 7 rebounds in the second meeting.
- Alexis Hutchison, who had just four games in single digits scoring all year, was held to 8 points in the first meeting in January and had 10 points in the second meeting.
- As a group, Wright State was 15-of-16 from the free throw line in the first meeting – the 93.8 percent mark is the Raiders' highest on the season – but Cleveland State limited the Raiders to just 6 free throw attempts in the second meeting (4-of-6), with four of the opportunities coming in the third quarter of the February contest.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
Despite being the Wright State programs' first trip to Indianapolis as part of the Horizon League's final four teams since the 2020-21 season, four current Raiders have experience in conference tournament games and beyond – Jada Tate, Alexis Hutchison, Rachel Loobie and Layne Ferrell.
 
- Jada Tate played four years at NCAA Division II Tiffin before joining the Raiders this season, with Tiffin winning the GMAC tournament title in the 2020-21 season to advance to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament. Tate and the Dragons advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship that spring.
- Alexis Hutchison played four years at NCAA Division II Malone before joining the Raiders this season, where she was a part of Malone's 2022-23 squad that advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional.
- Rachel Loobie played two years at Western Michigan before joining the Raiders ahead of the 2022-23 season. At Western Michigan, Loobie was a part of the 2020-21 team that won the MAC tournament title and played in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
- Layne Ferrell played four years at Akron before joining the Raiders this season, where she was a part of Akron's 2021-22 squad that advanced to the WNIT.
 
SOMETHING INDY-WATER?
The last two trips to Indianapolis have seen Wright State Athletics reach the HL title game in both visits – 2021 with the Raider women and 2022 with the Raider men. This year's tournament marks the fifth straight season the Horizon League semifinals and championship game have been held in Indianapolis, with Wright State making its fourth combined appearance (two women – 2021, 2024; two men – 2020, 2022).

FINAL FOUR
Wright State will play in the Horizon League semifinals for the 10th time in the last 15 seasons on Monday, with the Raiders having advanced to five championship games in that stretch with three HL titles (2014, 2019, 2021). In Wright State's first 16 years in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference/Horizon League, the Raiders played in the semifinal round just four times, with one championship game appearance (2008, lost to Cleveland State).
 
QUICK HITTERS
- Alexis Hutchison leads the HL with a 19.2 points/game scoring average, she also leads in HL contests with 19.2 points/game.
- The Raiders have two of the top three FT shooters in the HL, led by Kacee Baumhower at 84.6 %, with Alexis Hutchison sitting third shooting 82.6 %.
- Wright State is second in the HL in three-pointers made per game (7.9) and leads in team free throw percentage (78.8 %).
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Wright State is No. 10 nationally with its 78.8 percent Free Throw Percentage. Kacee Baumhower's 84.6 free throw percentage is No. 58 nationally.  Alexis Hutchison is No. 18 nationally with 615 total points scored while her 19.2 points/game mark is No. 35. Hutchison's 540 field goal attempts are No. 13 nationally with her 222 field goals made No. 26.
 
ALEXIS HUTCHISON-HORIZON LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
On March 4, Alexis Hutchison was named a Horizon League first team selection. The graduate guard started all 31 regular season contests for the Raiders, averaging 19.1 points per game, tops in the Horizon League and is a Top 35 mark nationally. She's averaging 34.9 minutes per game with 1,082 total minutes played, both the best in the Horizon League and a Top 100 mark nationally. Hutchison is shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, No. 9 in the Horizon League, while shooting 31.4 percent from three-point range with 59 made triples. Her 521 total field goal attempts are ranked No. 9 nationally, with her 215 field goals made No. 22 in the country entering the postseason. She's averaging 3.2 assists per night, Top 5 in the Horizon, with multiple assists in 26 games and has five or more assists seven games.
 
STAT STUFFER
Layne Ferrell has stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 10.5 points, 5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. She is currently third the Horizon League in total blocks (49) and third in blocks per game (1.6).
 
PRESENCE DOWN LOW
Rachel Loobie ranks fourth in the Horizon League with a 6.9 rebounds per game average. The Indianapolis native has pulled down eight-plus rebounds in 11 games and has six-plus rebounds in 26 of 32 games.
 
BACK FOR YEAR THREE
Kacee Baumhower is one of only two players who has been with the Raiders since the 2021-22 season. She joined the program as a mid-year transfer from Saint Bonaventure in January 2022.
 
HOFFMAN IN THE POSTSEASON
Raider head coach Kari Hoffman heads to Indianapolis with a career 7-7 record in the postseason between her time leading Cedarville and Wright State. She has led the Raiders to Horizon League tournament wins in each of the last two seasons, winning in the HL first round last March in Oakland before Thursday's quarterfinal victory over Milwaukee. This will also be the second-straight season Wright State has met the No. 1 seed in the HL tournament, with the Raiders falling at No. 1 Green Bay 85-57 last March in the quarterfinals.
 
During her time on the sidelines at Cedarville, Hoffman's résumé included a trip to the NCCAA Midwest Regional to close the 2019-20 season and a NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional appearance to cap the 2021-22 campaign. Hoffman has won at least one game in the postseason in seven of her eight seasons, with the lone exception coming in 2021-22, her first year at the helm of the Raiders.
 
KARI THE PLAYER
In addition to her postseason coaching résumé, head coach Kari Hoffman had plenty of postseason experience as a student-athlete at Cedarville from 2001-05. Hoffman remains the program's No. 2 all-time leading scorer (2,275 points) and is the all-time leader in three-point field goals made (338), three-point field goal percentage (.458) and career games played (142).
 
Hoffman led Cedarville to three American Mideast Conference championships and a pair of NAIA Division II National Runner-Up finishes (2004, 2005), while she was a two-time American Mideast Conference Player of the Year, along with being named the 2005 NCCAA National Player of the Year.