IU welcomes Belmont to Assembly Hall tonight at 7 p.m. in the opening round of the 2014 Women's National Invitation Tournament looking to secure its first postseason win since 2009.

This year marks the seventh time IU has competed in the WNIT and the first since the 2009 season. The Hoosiers carry an 8-6 all-time record in WNIT games, reaching the Elite-8 in 2006 and 2009.

Belmont is led by first-year head coach Cameron Newbauer, the older brother of IU senior guard Andrew Newbauer. Cameron steered his Bruin team to a 14-17 overall record. Belmont went 10-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play and lost 78-66 to UT Martin in the Tournament Finals earlier this month.

The Bruins have four players averaging more than 8 points per game, but are led by junior guard Jordyn Luffman's 14.3 points per game. Luffman is also the team's second-leading rebounder with 7.1 boards per game, trailing only freshman forward Frankie Joubran's 7.5 rebounds per game.

IU and Belmont share two mutual opponents this year. IU defeated an IUPUI team on the road that Belmont lost to 80-58 in Belmont's season-opener. Both the Hoosiers and Bruins were also beaten by Purdue by 30 or more points.

The winner of tonight's game will advance to the second round of the WNIT to play the winner of tonight's Indiana State vs. Marquette matchup set to tip off at 7:05 p.m.

Comments powered by Disqus