Preview: Wright State-Green Bay rubber match to decide Horizon League women’s basketball tournament champion

The Wright State women’s basketball team has an early wake-up call Tuesday for a high noon showdown with perennial power Green Bay in the Horizon League women’s basketball championship game.

>>RELATED: Big shots key Raiders’ semifinal win

Here are seven things to know about the game, which will air on ESPNU:

1. The game will pit the Horizon’s top-scoring offense against the league’s stingiest defense. 

Wright State led the league with 71.4 points per game in the regular season while Green Bay allowed 51.4 points per game.

2. Both teams have won seven games in a row.

The Raiders finished the season a tad stronger, going 9-1 in their last 10 games to claim an outright regular season title.

The Phoenix were 8-2 down the final stretch.

3. This is a rubber match.

Wright State throttled Green Bay 85-67 at the Nutter Center on Jan. 3 then lost 56-37 at Green Bay five weeks later.

4. A high-scoring game would certainly seem to favor the Raiders.

Green Bay is 19-2 when allowing less than 60 points but only 3-6 when allowing more than 60.

Wright State scored more than 60 points in all but two games in the regular season before beating IUPUI 60-51 in the semifinals Monday.

5. Wright State coach Katrina Merriweather hopes her team can improve to 6-0 on neutral courts this season.

Green Bay’s 55-53 win over Youngstown State in the semifinals was its first neutral-court game of the season.

The Phoenix are 9-6 away from home while the Raiders are 14-5.

5. The Phoenix are 16-time Horizon League tournament champions.

They are undefeated in the two-plus years it has been played in Detroit.

6. Green Bay will be playing in its 10th consecutive Horizon League tournament championship game. 

The Raiders are headed to their sixth overall and fourth in six years.

7. Wright State won its only tournament title five years ago when the Raiders knocked off the Phoenix 88-69 on their home floor. 

That earned the program’s only NCAA tournament bid to date.

Wright State lost 62-44 in the championship game to Green Bay last season.

About the Author