MILWAUKEE — Bryant & Stratton’s women’s basketball team will be squaring off with the Waubonsee Chiefs Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Region 4 Tournament. 

Both teams met previously in December, and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Bobcats, who led by four points after three quarters, pulled away, outscoring the Chiefs 27-19.

The Bobcats received contributions from Trishena Brown, Nevaeh Johnson and Zaria Simmons. 

Johnson is one of two starters out for Bryant & Stratton, but it will still have Simmons and Brown at the start of the playoffs.

“Even though we will be short-handed, we have improved a lot since the beginning of the season and are looking forward to the playoffs,” Bobcat’s head women’s basketball coach Brandon Siska said. “Waubonsee runs their offense well and shoots a lot of threes. And they hit most of them the first time we played. We will have to play great defense and rebound well.”

The Bobcats will also be without freshman guard Raina Yang. She averaged 12.2 points per game (ppg) but tore her meniscus against Wilbur Wright on Feb. 17.

“She’s been a big player for us this year,” Bobcat’s head women’s basketball coach Brandon Siska said. “We’ve shown up to games with six or seven kids … But I’m really proud of everybody stepping up.”

The short-handed Bobcats will also look to slow down the Chiefs team led by Paisley Booth and Angelina Schlinger, both averaging 12 ppg.

With two starters out, replicating last season’s success will be a tall task, as Siska helped the team finish No. 6 in the country. However, this team is more motivated than ever, and the Bobcats are ready to start postseason play.