Lady Bears host Memphis Saturday in WNIT second round

Missouri State is 0-1 all-time against Memphis, losing 77-51 in a tournament hosted by Texas A&M in 1980

March 16, 2012|By Ben Adamson, MSU Sports Information | cerwin@ky3.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Missouri State Lady Bears continue play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament Saturday at 7:05 p.m. against the Memphis Tigers in a second round matchup at JQH Arena.

The Lady Bears (23-8) defeated UMKC 81-79 on Thursday, coming out on top of a wild game that featured 10 ties and 20 lead changes.

Memphis, meanwhile, was in a dogfight of its own at home against Chattanooga, trailing much of the contest before winning 60-59. The Tigers are 25-7 and finished 13-3 in Conference USA.

Missouri State is now 9-3 all-time in WNIT play and has played each game at home.

Series History
Missouri State is 0-1 all-time against Memphis, losing 77-51 in a tournament hosted by Texas A&M in 1980. The Lady Bears are 12-8 against current Conference USA members, including a victory over Rice in last season's WNIT.

Scouting Memphis
Memphis is 25-7 overall and finished second in the Conference USA regular season with a 13-3 league mark. The Tigers defeated Chattanooga 60-59 at home in the WNIT first round.

Memphis is led by Jasmine Lee, who averages a double-double with 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds, while Brittany Carter (13.1) and Nicole Dickson (13.0) score in double figues as well.

Six Tigers have at least 41 steals on the year and the team averages 11.6 per game while forcing 19.9 turnovers per contest.

As a team, Memphis scores 68.8 points and allows 59.1 while shooting .409 overall, .287 from three-point land and .597 on free throws.

WNIT History
The Lady Bears are making their fifth appearance in the tournament with an all-time record of 9-3 in the event. MSU dropped an overtime decision to Eastern Kentucky in the opening round of the 2002 meet, then swept the WNIT field with five straight victories in 2005 to claim their first national tournament title. In 2010, the Lady Bears knocked off Oral Roberts and Samford before falling to Illinois in the third round at JQH Arena, and defeated Rice before falling to Arkansas in the second round last year.

Missouri State owns a first-round win over UMKC in 2012.

About the WNIT
The 64-team, single-elimination WNIT will consist of 31 automatic berths and 33 at-large selections, with all games played at host school sites. An automatic bid was offered to each established Division I conference to the team that finished highest during the regular season and did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 33 at-large bids were filled by the top remaining teams available, as decided by a series of factors. All Division I teams with overall records of .500 or better are considered for the at-large berths.

Dates for the 2012 WNIT include first-round games on March 14-16 second-round contests on March 17-19, third-round match-ups on March 21-23, quarterfinal games on March 24-26, semifinal pairings on March 28-29, and the championship game on March 31.

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