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Women's Hoop Report 62

March Madness Part Five - WBI Style

By Winners OnlyPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Allison, Destiny, Jiselle

The Women's Basketball Invitational not to be confused with the Women's National Invitational Tournament is yet another post-season tournament that allows collegiate teams to continue their seasons.

The WBI started in 2010 and has operated every year except for 2020, due to the global pandemic. Usually there are 16 teams that are invited to play, this year there are eight.

Cleveland State will face Manhattan, Loyola Chicago will take on Stetson, Portland will battle Albilene Christinan and Florida International goes up against Northern Arizona. All first round games will take place today at the Exum Center on the campus of Kentucky State.

Here is a preview of the action.

Cleveland State vs. Manhattan

The Vikings of Cleveland State enter the WBI at 11-9. They are led by senior guard Mariah White. The five-foot-eight Toledo, Ohio native averages 19.4 points and 4.1 assists per game. She had her biggest offensive performance of the year against IUPUI when she scored 36 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field.

Below: Aminata Ly

The Vikings got a late season defensive surge from sophomore center Aminata Ly. The six-foot-four native of Dakar blocked six shots in her first 12 games this year. In her last five contests she tallied 13 rejections.

CSU also has a strong three-point bomber in Destiny Leo who led the team with a 40.9 percentage from three. She also averages 11.1 points per game.

Below: Dee Dee Davis

Manhattan is 10-7. Center Courtney Warley averages a double-double at 11.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. She also brings in 2.2 steals and one block per game. She had seven games with at least 12 rebounds. The Jaspers' top scorer is Dee Dee Davis. The Bronx native is a junior that averages 12.9 points per game.

Loyola vs. Stetson

Above: Yazz Wazeerud-Din

Stetson (9-13) is led by Yazz Wazeerud-Din. The junior is averaging 15.5 points per game in her first season with the Hatters. Wazeerud-Din also causes chaos on defense with a strong average of 2.3 steals per game. She stole the ball a season best seven times against North Alabama. Sophomore guard Jamiya Turner has the ability to put the ball in the basket as well. She scored a season best 21 points against Jacksonville and averages 10.6 points on the season.

Below: Allison Day

Loyola Chicago (11-13) has a six-foot-one forward named Allison Day guiding the team. She paces the Ramblers in scoring at 11 points and rebounding at 6.6 boards per game. Day also has the team's best shooting percentage at an impressive 54.6 percent. She posted three double-doubles during the season.

Portland vs. Albilene Christian

Above: Haylee Andrews

At 12-11, Portland comes in led by two very productive players. Haylee Andrews and Alex Fowler average 16.5 points each. Andrews leads the team with six assists per game. The junior had four games this season with at least 10 assists. Her top scoring output came when she put up 31 in a win over Pepperdine. She had nine assists in that meeting.

Fowler averages three assists but makes an even bigger impact on the boards. The six-foot-one forward brings down 7.7 rebounds per game. She nearly had a 20-20 game when she scored 21 points and took 18 rebounds against San Diego.

Below: Alyssa Adams

Albilene Chrsitian has two strong scorers as well. Anna McLeod averages 15,5 points and Alyssa Adams scores 14.6 points per contest. Adams is a forward/center that also averages 9,1 rebounds per game. She had six double-doubles including a 17-point, 22-rebound effort against Lamar.

Florida International vs. Northern Arizona

Below: Fujika Nimmo

Jiselle Thomas and the 13-12 Florida International Panthers enter battle with a potent squad. Thomas is a senior guard averaging a career best 16.7 points per game. She had a masterful performance in the Conference USA tourney scoring 34 points to go with 15 rebounds and four assists in a win over Southern Miss. She's got three other dangerous teammates in Kyla Nelson, Fujika Nimmo and Emerald Ekpiteta. All of whom average over 11 points per game.

Below: Regan Schenck

Point guard Regan Schenck leads the offense of the 13-12 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. She averages five assists and registered a season high 18 assists in a road win over UNLV. She also scores 12.1 points per game and posted a season high 31 points against Weber State. Senior guard JJ Nakai is the team's top scorer at 14.8 points per game.

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