With the regular seasons coming to a close over spring break, the Weber State University women’s and men’s basketball teams head north on the 84 to Boise, Idaho, for the Big Sky Basketball Tournament.
For the second year, CenturyLink Arena will host the tournament after Reno held it for many previous years. Also, for the second consecutive year, restaurants and bars near the arena will host fan zones for the Big Sky faithful.
Buffalo Wild Wings, just right across the plaza from the arena, will host the Weber State fan zone before each game. For fans who attend the fan zone, special appearances from the cheer team, Waldo and the Wildcat Band will help make an unforgettable atmosphere.
The Weber State women’s team enters the tournament as the 11th seed. WSU went 2–18 in conference play with wins over Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington. Weber State took down the Eagles of Eastern Washington on March 6 in an overtime thriller.
Freshman Ula Chamberlin led the ’Cats with 17 points and freshman Jadyn Matthews added 16 points of her own.
The Wildcats will take on in-state rival and sixth seed Southern Utah University Thunderbirds at 7:30 p.m. on March 9 at CenturyLink Arena. Idaho State University, the third seed, will await the winner in the second round of the tournament on March 10 at 8 p.m.
Weber State fell to the Thunderbirds twice, 83–71 in Ogden on Jan. 30 and 82–66 in Cedar City on Feb. 22.
The Thunderbirds lost to the number one seed Montana State Bobcats on March 5 before defeating the University of Montana in overtime to close the regular season on March 6.
Weber State fell to the University of Idaho on March 5 but defeated Eastern Washington to close out the season.
Senior Gina O’Brien is the only senior on the Wildcat team heading into the offseason, during which the young group is looking to build some momentum.
The Weber State men’s team fell to the number one seed Eastern Washington in their season finale on March 7. The ’Cats finished conference play with an 8-12 conference record and enter the tournament as the eighth seed.
The Wildcats will take on Sacramento State University at 9:30 a.m. on March 11, tipping off the men’s portion of the tournament.
The winner of the Wildcat and Hornets game takes on the number one seed Eastern Washington Eagles at noon the next day.
Weber State and Sacramento State split their series. The Wildcats lost in Sacramento 71–51, but WSU took down the hornets in Ogden 70–66 on Feb. 6.
The Hornets finished the season a game above .500 but were also 8–12 in the Big Sky. The Hornets dropped their final two games of the season to Montana and Portland State but have played just twice in a week.
Weber State took down the Vandals of Idaho before falling to Eastern Washington, wrapping up four games in eight days.
Seniors Jerrick Harding and Cody John look to help lead Weber State in their last conference tournament at Weber State. Harding leads the Big Sky in scoring and is just 39 points from second in all time scoring in the Big Sky.
CenturyLink arena will host all games from March 9 to 14 with the women’s championship on March 13 and the men’s championship on the 14th airing on ESPNU.
