SLU WBB vs Northern Iowa: WNIT Preview

Saint Louis University survived and advanced in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament . Hell, they thrived and advanced, with a convincing 61-44 win over Milwaukee on Saturday. Rachel Kent was on fire: 6-7 three pointers, 4-4 from the free throw line, for 24 points. Kent added in 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Stuffing the stat sheet was Myriama Smith Traore: 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals. Ciaja Harbison and Brooke Flowers were very good again, as always. Flowers did not shoot particularly well or often, but the Milwaukee bigs were held completely in check.

Monday

Having dispatched one set of Panthers from the upper Midwest, the Bills face another in Northern Iowa on Monday night at 7 PM CDT on FloHoops. UNI relies on their shooting ability, as they are a good Free Throw shooting squad (75.2% for #46 in the country per NCAA.org) and a high-volume Three Point shooting regimen (8.6 makes per game, #22 overall). Fortunately for SLU, they shoot threes at only a modest percentage (32.9%, #93) so if the Bills can box out and secure the long rebounds they should get plenty of chances against a middling Panther defense (#198 in FG% defense). UNI does block a fair number of shots (3.9 per game, #80) so maybe this is another one for Harbison and Kent to win from the outside.

SLU WBB players overall production measured in terms of Game Score per 40 Minutes, compared to other SLU players of the recent past. Blue dots represent Game Score per 40 Minutes from the last game SLU played, Saturday night vs Milwaukee in the WNIT second round.

Notes

Data courtesy NCAA.org

Game Score metric created by John Hollinger

Plot format by Aaron Baggett

For more information on SLU vs Northern Iowa check out the preview on SLUBillikens.com