Postseason Basketball Comes to Welsh-Ryan Arena Thursday

3/16/2016 2:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Thursday, March 17	San Diego	7 p.m. CST	Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, Ill.)	BTNPlus on BTN2Go	SideArm
Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@NUWBBall) \| Facebook

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern learned on Monday night that it earned an at-large bid to the Women's NIT. The Wildcats will host San Diego in a first-round matchup on Thursday, March 17. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and will be streamed live on BTNPlus on BTN2Go.

Tickets can be purchased on the day of the event only. Prices are $8 general admission, $6 for youth and FREE for NU students with a WildCARD, courtesy of the Northwestern Women's Basketball program. For further ticket information, please contact Northwestern's ticket office at 888-GO-PURPLE.

Students who are interested in attending the game can take the intercampus shuttle to Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The #B1GCats enter the WNIT after finishing the season 18-16 overall. Northwestern won 10-straight games to open the season for the second-straight year. NU was one of just two Big Ten teams to open the season with 10-consecutive wins before dropping its first game of the year against No. 16 DePaul on Dec. 19. Northwestern closed out its non-conference slate with an 11-1 mark for the best start to a season under head coach Joe McKeown.

For the first time in school history, Northwestern won three games in the postseason Big Ten Tournament. Despite the absence of sharpshooter Maggie Lyon, the 'Cats defeated Wisconsin, then pulled out upset victories over fifth-seeded Minnesota and No. 4 seed Indiana. With the wins, the Wildcats reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the second-consecutive year.

This is the fifth postseason appearance during the McKeown era at Northwestern as the Wildcats are 5-3 in the WNIT. The Wildcats are led offensively by Nia Coffey, who is averaging a team-best 20.3 points per game, and 9.8 rebounds per game. Maggie Lyon (16.0 ppg), Christen Inman (14.7 ppg), and Ashley Deary (12.1 ppg) are also averaging double figures.

Coffey, a co-captain for the Wildcats recorded 19 20-plus point performances this year, including a season-high 31 points in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against top-seeded Maryland. The junior has scored in double figures in 49-straight games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, for the third-best streak in program history and leads the Big Ten in double-doubles with 17. She is the only Big Ten player to rank among the league's top five in points (20.3 ppg), rebounds (9.8 rpg) and blocks (2.0 bpg).

Deary was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year – the first in program history – and made her second-consecutive appearance on the All-B1G Defensive Team. She was also named All-B1G Honorable Mention for the third year in a row. The junior guard leads the country in steals (138) and steals per game (4.06). She finished the regular-season as Northwestern's all-time leader in steals, recording 308 in her career to date, and broke the Big Ten single-season steals record with 125.

Northwestern and San Diego have met once before during the 1987-88 season as 'Cats walked away with a 60-56 victory.