Wright State Raiders women's basketball

Wright State Raiders
Wright State Raiders
	2024–25 Wright State Raiders women's basketball team
University	Wright State University
Head coach	Kari Hoffman (4th season)
Conference	Horizon League
Location	Dayton, Ohio
Arena	Nutter Center ; (capacity: 12,000)
Nickname	Raiders
Student section	Raider Rowdies
Colors	Hunter green and vegas gold;
NCAA tournament round of 32
	2021
NCAA tournament appearances
	2014, 2019, 2021
Conference tournament champions
	2014, 2019, 2021
Conference regular season champions
	2017, 2019

The Wright State Raiders team is the NCAA Division I women's basketball team that represents Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League. The Raiders are currently coached by Kari Hoffman. The Raiders play at the Wright State University Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio. The official capacity for basketball games is 10,400.

History

Wright State first sponsored women's basketball in 1973. In 1990 Wright State joined the North Star Conference, where they played until 1992 when the conference was effectively absorbed by the Mid-Continent Conference. In 1995 Wright State would move to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. The conference changed its name to the Horizon League on June 4, 2001.

The team earned its first NCAA Tournament win in March 2021, upsetting the No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks 66–62.

Retired numbers

Wright State has retired one jersey number in its history.

No.	Player	Position	Career
4	Kim Demmings	G	2011–2016

Facilities

The Wright State Raiders currently play their home games at the Wright State University Nutter Center (originally named Ervin J. Nutter Center). Ervin J. Nutter, donated $1.5 million to Wright State University in 1986. Funds from both the state of Ohio and the university contributed an additional $8 million to construction efforts which began in 1988. The Ervin J. Nutter Center Completed in 1990.

Coaches

The Raiders have had 8 coaches in their 41-year history. Current coach Kari Hoffman was hired in 2021.

Coach	Years	Overall record
Arnelle Jackson	1973–1975	14–31
Pat Davis	1976–1989	187–172
Terry Hill	1990–1996	61–130
Lisa Fitch	1997–2000	30–80
Bridgett Williams	2001–2009	109–155
Mike Bradbury	2010–2016	104–62
Katrina Merriweather	2016–2021	113–47
Kari Hoffman	2021–Present	30–58
Overall record:		648 – 735

^[2] ^[3]

Current coaching staff

Name	Position
Kari Hoffman	Head coach
John Leonzo	Associate Head Coach
Patrick Bain	Assistant coach
Lauryn Fox	Assistant coach
Jimmy Hoffman	Assistant coach
Emily Chapman	Director of Operations

^[4]

Seasons

WSU's records season by season during their Division II tenure.

Season	Head Coach	Overall record	Leading Scorer	MVP
Division II Independent
1973–74	Arnelle Jackson	1–13	Terry York	Jeanne Keister
1974–75	Arnelle Jackson	4–10	Margie Coate	Margie Coate
1975–76	Arnelle Jackson	9–8	Connie Philon	Margie Coate
1976–77	Pat Davis	5–12	Cindy Mercer	Cindy Mercer
1977–78	Pat Davis	10–10	Jayne Helmlinger	Jayne Helmlinger
1978–79	Pat Davis	10–13	Jackie Swenson	Biermann / Swenson
1979–80	Pat Davis	17–9	Jodi Martin	Jodi Martin
1980–81	Pat Davis	15–10	Jodi Martin	Jodi Martin
1981–82	Pat Davis	14–12	Jodi Martin	Jodi Martin
1982–83	Pat Davis	11–14	Jodi Martin	Jodi Martin
1983–84	Pat Davis	17–10	Lois Warburg	Lois Warburg
1984–85	Pat Davis	16–12	Jenny Horn	Jenny Horn
1985–86	Pat Davis	18–10	Jenny Horn	Jenny Horn
1986–87	Pat Davis	24–5	Janet Emerson	Janet Emerson

^[5] ^[6]

WSU's records season by season since joining Division I in 1987.

Season	Head Coach	Overall record	Conf. Record	Postseason
Division I Independent
1987–88	Pat Davis	17–11	0–0	–
1988–89	Pat Davis	10–18	0–0	–
1989–90	Pat Davis	3–25	0–0	–
North Star Conference
1990–91	Terry Hall	4–24	3–11	–
1991–92	Terry Hall	8–20	5–7	–
Mid-Continent Conference
1992–93	Terry Hall	9–18	5–11	–
1993–94	Terry Hall	12–15	7–11	–
Midwestern Collegiate Conference
1994–95	Terry Hall	11–16	5–11	–
1995–96	Terry Hall	11–16	5–11	–
1996–97	Terry Hall	6–21	4–12	–
1997–98	Lisa Fitch	9–18	5–9	–
1998–99	Lisa Fitch	7–20	3–11	–
1999–2000	Lisa Fitch	8–20	5–9	–
2000–01	Lisa Fitch	6–22	3–11	–
Horizon League
2001–02	Bridgett Williams	6–22	4–12	–
2002–03	Bridgett Williams	11–17	8–8	–
2003–04	Bridgett Williams	9–20	5–11	–
2004–05	Bridgett Williams	19–11	11–5	–
2005–06	Bridgett Williams	12–16	8–8	–
2006–07	Bridgett Williams	10–18	8–8	–
2007–08	Bridgett Williams	16–16	11–5	–
2008–09	Bridgett Williams	15–16	10–8	–
2009–10	Bridgett Williams	11–19	10–8	–
2010–11	Mike Bradbury	20–13	11–7	WBI 2nd Round
2011–12	Mike Bradbury	21–13	12–6	WBI 2nd Round
2012–13	Mike Bradbury	12–18	6–10	–
2013–14	Mike Bradbury	26–9	12–4	NCAA 1st Round
2014–15	Mike Bradbury	25–9	12–4	WNIT 1st Round
2015–16	Mike Bradbury	24–11	12–6	WNIT 1st Round
2016–17	Katrina Merriweather	25–9	15–3	WNIT 2nd Round
2017–18	Katrina Merriweather	23–11	12–6	WNIT 1st Round
2018–19	Katrina Merriweather	27–6	16–2	NCAA 1st Round
2019–20	Katrina Merriweather	19–12	13–5	^[a]
2020–21	Katrina Merriweather	19–8	15–5	NCAA 2nd Round
2021–22	Kari Hoffman	4–19	3–18	–
2022–23	Kari Hoffman	8–24	6–14	–
2023–24	Kari Hoffman	18–15	11–9	–

Notes

^ No tournaments held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Record vs. Horizon League opponents

Cleveland State: 38–37
Detroit: 28–28
Green Bay: 5–63
Milwaukee: 31–28
Northern Kentucky: 10–12
Oakland: 14–1
UIC: 35–28
IUPUI: 11–2
Youngstown State: 35–26

NCAA Tournament history

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
2014	#14	First round	#3 Kentucky	L 60–106
2019	#13	First round	#4 Texas A&M	L 84–61
2021	#13	First round Second round	#4 Arkansas #5 Missouri State	W 66–62 L 64–39

NCAA Tournament seeding history

The 1982 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament was the first Women's Basketball Tournament held under the auspices of the NCAA.

Years →	2014	2019	2021
Seeds	14	13	13

Tournament championships

Wright State has 3 conference tournament championships. On March 16, 2014 they defeated Green Bay 88–69 to clinch their first Horizon League tournament championship. The Raiders claimed their second Horizon League tournament championship in 2019 when they defeated Green Bay 55–52. They claimed their third with a 53–41 victory over IUPUI on March 9, 2021.

Season	Coach	Opponent	Score	Site	Overall record	Conference record	Conference
2013–14	Mike Bradbury	Green Bay	88–69	Green Bay, WI	26–8	12–4	Horizon
2018–19	Katrina Merriweather	Green Bay	55–52	Detroit, MI	27–6	16–2	Horizon
2020–21	Katrina Merriweather	IUPUI	53–41	Indianapolis, IN	19–7	15–5	Horizon
Horizon League tournament championships:						3

Women's National Invitation Tournament

Wright State has appeared in 4 Women's National Invitation Tournament. Wright State's record is 1–4 in the Women's National Invitational Tournament.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
2015	First round	Toledo	L 64–72
2016	First round	Michigan	L 53- 81
2017	First round	Central Michigan	W 66–64
2017	Second round	Michigan	L 66–71
2018	First round	Toledo	L 50–64