They’re 9-21 overall and 7-13 in the league and will face No. 9 Youngstown State (12-18, 7-13) at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, at the Nutter Center.
The men’s team hosts IU Indy at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
“That’s a big accomplishment from where we started,” fourth-year coach Kari Hoffman said of staying at home. “We have a young crew that went through the valley and kind of fought their way out of it. I’m proud of our resilience.”
The Raiders won both games against YSU, prevailing 77-62 at home Jan. 12 and 78-76 on the road Feb. 13.
But the Penguins upset Cleveland State, 73-70, on Saturday and have won three of their last four games.
“There were so many teams fighting for these middle-of-the-pack spots. We were all just one game or even a tiebreaker from each other, and that’s where we ended up with Youngstown,” Hoffman said.
“There’s an old saying, ‘It’s hard to beat a team three times.’ They’re playing with a ton of momentum right now. That’s a little worrisome. We’ll see what we’re made of, but I believe we have enough grit to put forth our best effort.”
The Raiders fell behind by 20 in the first half and dropped a 73-57 decision to visiting Robert Morris on Saturday.
Amaya Staton, who was honored on Senior Day, notched her eighth straight double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
She’s a candidate for postseason honors after averaging a league-high 8.8 rebounds along with 11.5 points.
“Everyone on the team loves her. All the coaches have really embraced her as a person, and she’s embraced us in return,” Hoffman said.
“I’m just really proud of the way she finished. She wanted to finish the right way, and I think she’s done that.”
TOURNEY BRACKET: Green Bay beat Purdue Fort Wayne, 68-63, in overtime Saturday to win the outright title and claim the No. 1 seed with a 19-1 record.
PFW finished 18-2 and is the second seed.
Cleveland State (14-6) and Robert Morris (10-10) claimed the third and fourth seeds and will get byes into the quarterfinals.
No. 5 Northern Kentucky (8-12) will play at Robert Morris in the quarterfinals Thursday. In the other first-round games, No. 6 Detroit Mercy (8-12) will host No. 11 Milwaukee (5-15), and No. 7 IU Indy (8-12) will host No. 10 Oakland (6-14).
About the Author