Postseason #HLWBB Daily Roundup – March 21

March 21

Rachel White

INDIANAPOLIS – Green Bay, IUPUI, and Youngstown State competed in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday with all three #HLWBB teams ending their seasons.

RESULTS

GAME	RECAP
WNIT: Kent State 64, Green Bay 59	Box Score
WNIT: Cincinnati 76, Youngstown State 62	Box Score
WNIT: Middle Tennessee 59, IUPUI 47	Box Score

GAME RECAPS
Kent State 64, Green Bay 59
GREEN BAY, WIS. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Green Bay's season came to a close on Thursday night at the Kress Center, as the Phoenix fell to Kent State 64-59 in the First Round of the WNIT. The Golden Flashes advance to the WNIT's Second Round to face Butler.

Green Bay's lead reached as much as 13 points in the third quarter after Laken James sank a free throw with 2:14 remaining. Kent State responded to the GB advantage with a 9-0 run to end the quarter and continued in the fourth, scoring the first three points of the period to make it a one-point game, 43-42.

The Phoenix lead was as high as eight points the rest of the way, provided by a Carly Mohns jumper which brought the score to 50-42. Kent State took its first lead of the quarter at 55-54 after a three-pointer from Megan Carter with 4:01 remaining and never looked back. The Phoenix sent the Golden Flashes to the line late, but was never able to pull even, eventually falling 64-59 to end its season.

Frankie Wurtz led the Phoenix with 13 points on a 4-for-10 effort from the field and a 3-of-6 clip from long range in 29 minutes. Wurtz was joined by Laken James in double figures, who totaled 11 after a 4-for-9 performance in 39 minutes. Eight different members of GB scored in the matchup.

Green Bay bids farewell to seniors Laken James, Carly Mohns and Jen Wellnitz. James and Wellnitz made three trips to NCAA Tournaments as active players on the Phoenix roster and both received all-league recognitions for their contributions this season. Mohns joined the roster as a graduate transfer from Iowa this past season and provided the Phoenix with consistency on both ends of the court all season.

Cincinnati 76, Youngstown State 62
Cincinnati, Ohio (YSUPenguins.com) -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team showed the same fight that led to 22 wins during the season, but the Penguins saw their memorable campaign come to a close with a 76-62 loss at Cincinnati in the opening round of the WNIT on Thursday.

YSU led the Bearcats 17-15 at the end of the first period, but Cincinnati had a 20-8 edge in the second period and was able to hold off a Penguins charge that trimmed an 18-point deficit down to three with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.

After Mary Dunn's basket made the score 57-54 at the 7:27 mark in the fourth, the Bearcats scored 13 straight points in a three-minute stretch to go up 70-54.

Youngstown State's season ends with a 22-10 record, and Cincinnati improves to 22-10 and advances to the second round to play either Minnesota or Northern Iowa.

All three YSU seniors scored in double figures in their final game wearing the Red and White. Melinda Trimmer scored a career-high 17 points, and Alison Smolinski matched her in the scoring column while adding five 3-pointers to her YSU and Horizon League single-season record total. Sarah Cash added 12 points in her record-setting 135th career game.

Andeija Puckett came off the bench to score 16 points, and Antoinette Miller also had 16 points to lead the Bearcats.
The lead changed hands six times in the first quarter, and the Penguins scored the final six points of the period to take a 17-15 lead. That ended up being their final advantage of the night at Fifth Third Arena.

IImar'I Thomas converted a three-point play on UC's first possession of the second quarter to put the Bearcats up 18-17, and Chelsea Olson split a pair of free throws with 8:18 remaining to tie the score for the final time. The Bearcats scored the next seven points to go up 25-18, and they scored the final four points of the half after a Smolinski 3 with 2:13 remaining.

The Bearcats then scored nine straight points midway through the third period to take their largest lead of the night at 49-31 at the 3:33 mark. Trimmer converted a three-point play 54 seconds later, and that started the rally for the Penguins. Smolinski made two 3s in the final two minutes of the quarter, and YSU got to within 55-46 heading into the fourth.

Youngstown State then scored the first six points of the fourth on two field goals by Trimmer and two Dunn free throws to get within 55-52 with 8:18 remaining. Dunn's basket from Olson in transition at the 7:27 mark made the score 58-55, but the Bearcats held the Penguins scoreless for almost four minutes as they pulled away. The lead reached 74-57 with 2:46 remaining, and Smolinski made her 109th 3 of the season and 262nd of her career with 1:39 remaining. YSU head coach John Barnes called timeout, and Cash, Smolinski and Trimmer exited together with the score 74-60.

YSU outshot Cincinnati 43.6 percent to 42 percent from the field, but Cincinnati made five more field goals and four more free throws. The Bearcats were a perfect 13-for-13 from the free-throw line. UC also held a 41-30 edge on the glass, and it had turned 13 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points.

Middle Tennessee 59, IUPUI 47
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (IUPUIJags.com) – IUPUI women's basketball's season came to an end with a 59-47 loss to Middle Tennessee in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday (Mar. 21).

Macee Williams led all scorers with 18 points but went just 7-18 from the field. Tamya Sims added 14 points and finished her collegiate career with exactly 1,000 points between her two season in a Jaguar uniform and her two season at Bradley. Both Williams and Sims pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Jags.

IUPUI (20-12) was down by three entering the fourth quarter but Middle Tennessee took over with an 8-0 run to begin the final frame. The Jags cut it to seven at 49-42 after a Williams' layup but 11 seconds later, Middle Tennessee's Taylor Sutton hit a three to push it back to a double-digit lead. Williams hit a free throw in the Jags next possession but a three-point play pushed it back to 12 and the Jags never got the lead back under 10 points for the rest of the game.

IUPUI struggled with Middle Tennessee's three best scorers as Alex Johnson, Sutton and A'Queen Hayes combined to score 28 points in the second half as the Blue Raiders pulled away.

"We weren't able to get stops and their big three was really good down the stretch," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "I thought we got a little bit tired and we came up empty on the offensive end…I think that is an NCAA caliber team in Middle Tennessee. I am proud of our ladies, they battled back and forth on the road in a hostile environment but sometimes it is just not your night."

After shooting just 29 percent in the loss to Wright State in the Horizon League semifinals, IUPUI again struggled from the field, hitting just 30.4 percent from the field. The Jags really struggled behind the arc, hitting just 3-of-18 three point attempts (16.7 percent), including going 0-for-7 in the second half.

The game was close throughout the first half because, while the Jags were cold from the field, Middle Tennessee also struggled getting the ball in the basket. The Blue Raiders shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the first half, including a 2-for-10 effort in the first quarter before finding their rhythm in the second half.

IUPUI gave up the first two points of the game but recovered to score the next eight. Tamya Sims tied the game with two free throws and Williams added a layup. Morgan Allen then relieved Williams and added back-to-back buckets to finish off the run. It was then Middle Tennessee's turn to use a 6-0 run to tie the game but Sims' layup with 35 seconds left gave IUPUI a 10-8 lead after one.

The Jags found themselves down quickly in the second quarter after the Blue Raiders went on a 10-3 run but Parkinson's squad settled down and fought its way back in to the game. Down seven, IUPUI got to the free throw line with Sims and Holly Hoopingarner each hitting two. After an offensive foul on Middle Tennessee, Williams showed her range knocking down a three to tie the game. Sims then stepped outside the arc to give the Jags a three-point lead and capping a 10-0 run.

Middle Tennessee responded with five-straight points to end the half and take a two-point lead in to the break.

After only scoring five points in the first half, Williams took over to start the second, scoring the Jags first eight points and giving the Jags a 31-29 lead with 6:41 left in the frame. A three-point play by Sims with 3:46 left put IUPUI up three but the Jags went cold for the rest of the third as Middle Tennessee scored six-straight to end the quarter.

The loss ends the careers of seniors Sydney Hall, Allex Brown and Sims, who will go down as the senior class with the most wins in IUPUI history and the first class to go to four-straight WNITs.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

DATE	GAME	Time (ET)	TV/Live Stream
Friday, March 22	NCAA: No. 13 Wright State at No. 4 Texas A&M	4:30 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN3