Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Goes To Wright State For WNIT Opener
3/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan women's basketball team will play at Wright State in Fairborn, Ohio, on Thursday (7 p.m.) in an opening-round game of the Women's NIT.
The Chippewas (23-8) automatically qualified for the tournament by winning the regular-season Mid-American Conference championship, their first since 1985. CMU lost to Western Michigan, 67-63, in a MAC Tournament quarterfinal last week.
The CMU-Wright State winner will play either Michigan or Kent State in a second-round game. Second-round games are scheduled for March 18-21.
This marks CMU's fifth appearance in the WNIT, all since 2011. The Chippewas dropped a 63-55 decision to Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis in an opening-round game last year.
Wright State is 24-8 and finished 15-3 in the Horizon League, sharing the regular-season championship with Green Bay. It was Wright State's first Horizon League regular-season title. The Raiders lost to Detroit Mercy, 71-52, in a league tournament semifinal game.
The Raiders, who started the season 4-4 then went on a streak during which they won 18 of 19 starts, finished 13-2 this season on their home court, the Wright State Nutter Center. The Chippewas went 6-6 in true road games this season.
There are five common opponents between CMU and Wright State: Kent State, Illinois, Miami (Ohio), Oakland and Illinois-Chicago.
The Raiders went a combined 3-2 against those five opponents, with the wins coming against Miami, Oakland and Illinois-Chicago. CMU finished 5-0 against those five.
Wright State junior guard Chelsea Welch, a transfer from Pittsburgh, won the Horizon League scoring title, averaging 18.7 points per game. Raider sophomore Symone Simmons ranked third in the Horizon in rebounds per game at 9.2.
The Raiders ranked second in their league in scoring defense, allowing 61.3 points per game, and they were fifth in points per game (68.9).
Katrina Merriweather, in her first season at Wright State, earned the Horizon League Coach of the Year Award.
The Chippewas are one of five MAC teams in the WNIT field. The ACC also has five, tying the MAC for the most in the 64-team field. Ball State, Kent State, Northern Illinois and Ohio are the other MAC representatives in the tourney.
