Billy Montgomery

Women's Basketball 3/6/2018 8:08:00 PM Corey Miggins, Sports Information Director

Women's Basketball Faces New Mexico State Tomorrow in WAC Quarterfinal Showdown

No. 8 Chicago State (1-28) vs. No. 1 New Mexico State (17-11)
Date	Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Time	8 p.m.
Location	Orleans Arena - Las Vegas, Nev.
Video	ESPN 3
Radio	CSU Radio Network
Live Stats	WAC Live Stats
Social Media	@ChiStateCougars (Twitter)

CSU-NMSU WAC WBB Tournament Notes

CHICAGO -

OPENING TIP: Chicago State women's basketball opens the 2018 Western Athletic Conference Tournament tomorrow night as the eighth seed and will face No. 1 seed New Mexico State at the Orleans Arena in a quarterfinal battle live on ESPN 3 with a start time of 8 p.m.

SCOUTING CSU: CSU finished off its regular season schedule last Saturday with a 59-47 defeat to UMKC which ended a three-game homestand at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. The Cougars are led by freshman guard Tyeshia Bowers (Flint, Mich./Southwestern) as she now averages 12 points a game while tying redshirt senior guard Phylicia Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Pickerington Central) for the team's assist lead with both players dishing out 2.4 assists per contest. Johnson also ranks second on the team in scoring at 11.9 points a game followed by redshirt sophomore forward Ines Mata Boix (Madrid, Spain) with 9.4 points per game. Mata Boix is the team leader in rebounds (8.2 rpg), blocked shots (2.0 bpg), steals (1.7 spg) and field-goal percentage (.496) in addition to averaging a WAC-leading 3.0 offensive rebounds a game.

SCOUTING NMSU: New Mexico State comes into tomorrow's quarterfinal contest with a 17-11 season record and posted an 11-3 conference mark to win its fourth consecutive WAC regular-season title. The Aggies defeated UT Rio Grande Valley last Saturday in their season finale at the Pan American Center by a score of 72-56. Junior guard Brooke Salas is recording team highs of 18.8 points, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocked shots a game while she currently leads the league in scoring and blocked shots. Sophomore forward Gia Pack is averaging 15.4 points and a team-leading 8.1 rebounds per game, and senior guard Zaire Williams leads the WAC in assists by dishing out 5.3 per contest.

SERIES HISTORY: New Mexico State has produced wins in all 10 meetings with Chicago State since CSU became a member of the WAC in 2013-14. This season, NM State captured wins in both games this season with the Green and White which included a 63-55 victory in Chicago on Feb. 22. Senior guard Konner Harris (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney) shot 7-of-11 from three-point range to score a game-high 21 points for the Cougars.

WAC LEADER: Mata Boix leads the WAC in offensive rebounds (3.0) per game for overall contests while ranking second in rebounds and blocked shots per game, and third in field goal percentage.

A SCORING FEE: Johnson has been producing well offensively for Chicago State as she has averaged 14.8 points per game over its last five games while scoring in double figures in four of those contests. She tallied a career-best 23 points versus UTRGV on Feb. 23 as part of that stretch.

COUGARS SIGN TWO FOR 2018-19: The Green and White bolstered their roster for 2018-19 by signing a pair of student-athletes during the November 2017 early signing period in 6-foot-1 center Christina Alexander and 5-foot-8 guard Taylor Robinson. Alexander helped Martinville (Ind.) High School claim a regional title in her junior season, while Robinson averaged 10 points and four rebounds a game last season at Bolingbrook (Ill.) High School.

UP NEXT: CSU would advance with a win to Friday's semifinal round where it would take on the Seattle-UMKC winner live on ESPN 3 that begins at 4:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Konner Harris: G; 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

#1 Phylicia Johnson: G; 5' 8"; Redshirt Senior

#22 Ines Mata Boix: F; 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore

#10 Tyeshia Bowers: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#11 Konner Harris
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#1 Phylicia Johnson
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#22 Ines Mata Boix
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore
: F

#10 Tyeshia Bowers
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned