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Wright State Raiders' Katrina Merriweather named new Memphis Tigers women's basketball coach

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Memphis has hired Katrina Merriweather as the new women's basketball coach after she led Wright State to that program's first NCAA tournament win.

Athletic director Laird Veatch announced the hiring Monday.

Merriweather led No. 13 seed Wright State to an upset of fourth-seeded Arkansas in the first round last week before a loss to Missouri State in the second round. She also led Wright State to the only three Horizon League championships in school history.

She was the Horizon League Coach of the Year three times in her five seasons at Wright State, which included all three of the Raiders' NCAA tournament berths. She was 113-47 (70.6%).

Wright State was one of only six programs in this year's NCAA tournament with an all-female coaching staff along with Stanford, UCF, Georgia Tech, High Point and Central Michigan. Merriweather is the 12th coach in program history at Memphis, replacing Melissa McFerrin who retired last month.

She was an assistant coach at Wright State from 2010-2016 and served as recruiting coordinator for her final four years before being promoted to head coach. She was an assistant at Purdue from 2003 to 2006 and an assistant at UIC for 2002-03.

Merriweather began her coaching career at her alma mater Cincinnati in 2001-02 after playing four seasons with the Bearcats.