Bucs to Take On Minnesota in WBI

Photo by Tim Andrews

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Head coach Julie Goodenough and the Charleston Southern women’s basketball team will take on the University of Minnesota in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational tournament on Friday.  The Lady Bucs and the Golden Gophers will face off at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

"We are very excited and appreciative of this opportunity to once again be invited to the WBI Postseason National Tournament," says Goodenough.  "Our players have worked very hard this season to earn this opportunity, which will be our second year of postseason play in the past three seasons.  Minnesota will be a big challenge for us but one we look forward to and will enjoy preparing for."

The Bucs last appeared in the WBI in 2010, when they fell to No. 1 Appalachian State 62-47 in Charleston. 

Minnesota enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed, while the Buccaneers grabbed a seventh-place ranking in the event.  Friday’s meeting is the first-ever between the two teams. 

The Golden Gophers went 15-17 in the 2011-12 season and defeated Wisconsin by a score of 81-49 in the Big Ten Tournament.  They fell to the Big Ten’s top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions 78-74 in the tournament quarterfinals. 

With the fifth winning season in school history, the Buccaneers (17-14) upset the fourth-ranked Campbell Camels 57-63 in the Big South Conference Tournament quarterfinals to earn their first-ever win over the Camels and their first semifinal appearance since 2002.  After putting up a strong fight in the first half, the Bucs fell to eventual Big South Champion Liberty 72-52 in the semifinal round.