POSTSEASON WNIT Tournament Notes/Records
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POSTSEASON WNIT Tournament Notes/Records www.womensnit.com WOMEN’S NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT The 64-team Postseason WNIT is a single-elimination event with all games played at sites of host TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE schools. The WNIT is committed to offering deserved opportunities to women’s basketball programs, and the 2013 Postseason WNIT features a full 64-team bracket. SELECTION – MONDAY, MARCH 18 ROUND 1 – MARCH 20-22 The WNIT offers teams an opportunity to get more practices in, to experience playoff-atmosphere games, ROUND 2 – MARCH 23-25 to play in front of passionate fans, and to use their WNIT success as a springboard to the next season. ROUND 3 – MARCH 27-29 ROUND 4 – MARCH 30-APRIL 1 WNIT HISTORY SEMIFINALS – APRIL 3-4 The Postseason WNIT began in 1998 with 16 teams playing for a postseason crown. The event has Championship Game undergone four expansions since then, with its mission remaining the same. Saturday, April 6, 3 p.m. ET LIVE and in HD on CBS Sports Network Following the inaugural year, the field doubled to 32 teams and remained that way until 2006 when a deeper commitment was made to schools. The WNIT expanded to a 40-team field to give spots to teams Play-by-Play: Thad Anderson that won their regular-season conference title but did not win their conference tournament and therefore Analyst: Ceal Barry were excluded from the NCAA Tournament. The WNIT furthered that commitment to conferences in 2007, when it expanded to 48 teams and award- ed an automatic berth to each conference. The number of at-large berths remained at 17 until 2010, when the WNIT felt that the level of women’s basketball warranted an expansion to the 64-team field. TOURNAMENT FORMAT The Postseason WNIT features 32 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and the championship. The event offers 31 automatic berths, one to each established conference, and 33 at-large berths. The WNIT field and bracket is announced late on the evening of the NCAA Tournament selections. ON TV The championship game will air Live and in HD on CBS Sports Network at 3pm ET on Saturday, April 6. CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 158. OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT WEBSITE The official tournament website is www.womensnit.com. It has the latest news and information regarding the Postseason WNIT. Also, follow the WNIT on Facebook and Twitter. Please use #wnit for all tweets. QUICK NOTES • This year’s field includes 36 teams with 20 or more wins. Ties the record • WNIT games showcase the best of women’s basketball, both with fan ex- set in 2012. citement (The 2009 championship was played in front of a Big 12 record 16,113 fans at Kansas) and level of play (teams that do well in the Post- • A record 10 teams in this year’s field were crowned regular-season cham- season WNIT often make a huge jump the following year to performing pions in their respected conferences - Army (Patriot), Eastern Illinois (Ohio well in the NCAA Tournament). Valley), FGCU (Atlantic Sun), Pacific (Big West), San Diego State (MWC), Seattle (WAC), SMU (CUSA), Texas Southern (SWAC), Toledo (MAC), • A WNIT record crowd of 18,018 watched Ohio State knock off New Mexico and UALR (Sunbelt). in the 2001 championship game at The Pit. The game sold out eight hours after tickets went on sale to the general public. The sell-out was the third • The Postseason WNIT is the longest current running postseason event for fastest in the history of the facility. women’s college basketball, in addition to the NCAA Tournament. Since 1998, the Postseason WNIT has afforded hundreds of opportunities for • The Postseason WNIT is owned and produced by Triple Crown Sports. Based schools in every conference to play in the postseason. in Fort Collins, Colo., TCS runs more than 300 youth and college events na- tionwide in baseball, fastpitch, volleyball, and basketball. TCS also produc- • The WNIT is committed to all established conferences. It is the only men’s es the Preseason WNIT and the Men’s and Women’s Cancun Challenge. or women’s postseason tournament – other than the NCAA – to offer an Visit www.triplecrownsports.com for more information. automatic berth to each of the 31 established conferences. Media Contact: Andy Hansen | (970) 672-0517 | [email protected] /womensnationalinvitationtournament www.womensnit.com 3930 Automation Way - Fort Collins, CO 80525 @WomensNIT | #wnit /womensnationalinvitationtournament @WomensNIT |#wnit @WomensNIT Round 1 Round 2 Round 2 Round 1 Round 3 Round 3 March 20-22 March 23-25 March 23-25 March 20-22 March 27-29 Quarterfinals Quarterfinals March 27-29 Washington March 30-Apr 1 March 30-Apr 1 Western Kentucky 7 PT Fri. 3/22 7 CT Thur. 3/21 @ Washington @ WKU E. Washington Semifinals 2013 Semifinals East Carolina Pacific April 3-4 April 3-4 Auburn 7 PT Fri. 3/22 6 CT Wed. 3/20 @ Pacific @ Auburn UALR UAB Long Beach St. Arkansas 7 PT Wed. 3/20 7 CT Thur. 3/21 @ Long Beach St. @ Arkansas Utah Memphis San Diego Tulane 6 PT Thur. 3/21 7 CT Thur. 3/21 @ San Diego @ Tulane Hawaii Sam Houston St. San Diego St. Drexel 7 PT Wed. 3/20 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ San Diego St. @ Drexel UCSB Iona BYU Hartford 7 MT Wed. 3/20 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ BYU @ Hartford Media Contact: Andy Hansen|(970)[email protected] Media Contact: Idaho St. Championship at TBA Harvard St. Mary's 3 p.m. ET Sat. April 6 Bowling Green St. 7 PT Thur. 3/21 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ St. Mary's CBS Sports Network @ BGSU Seattle SMU Wyoming 2013 Duquesne 7 MT Thur. 3/21 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Wyoming @ Duquesne Northern Colorado Postseason WNIT Akron POSTSEASON WNIT Minnesota Boston 7 CT Fri. 3/22 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Minnesota @ Boston Ball St. Sacred Heart Marquette CHAMPIONS Fordham 7 CT Fri. 3/22 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Marquette @ Fordham Northern Iowa Army Kansas St. James Madison Notes/Records Tournament 7 CT Thur. 3/21 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Kansas St. @JMU 3930 Automation Way - Fort Collins, CO 80525 Fort Collins, - Way 3930 Automation Texas Southern NC A&T Illinois St. North Carolina St. 7:05 CT Thur. 3/21 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Illinois St. @ NC St. IUPUI Richmond Toledo Old Dominion 7 ET Thur. 3/21 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Toledo @ Old Dominion Butler Davidson www.womensnit.com Youngstown St. Charlotte 7:05 ET Thur. 3/21 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Youngstown St. @ Charlotte Indiana St. Appalachian St. Missouri Florida Int'l www.womensnit.com All game times are according to 7 CT Wed. 3/20 7 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Missouri host school’s time zone. @ Florida Int'l Eastern Illinois Florida Illinois FGCU 7 CT Thur. 3/21 7:05 ET Thur. 3/21 @ Illinois @ FGCU Miami (OH) Winthrop m POSTSEASON WNIT Tournament Notes/Records www.womensnit.com 2012 Championship Game 1ST 2ND F Stillwater, OK James Madison 26 42 68 March 31, 2012 Oklahoma State 35 40 75 Stillwater, Okla. -- The Oklahoma State women’s basketball team hon- ored former head coach Kurt Budke the best way they knew how. On Satur- day, in front of a season-high 6,157 fans in Stillwater, the Cowgirls defeated JMU 75-68 to claim the Postseason WNIT national championship. Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna, who both died Nov. 17 in a small plane crash, were on the minds of many at the game. Players, fans, and head coach Jim Littell watched Saturday as Budke’s wife, Shelley, was the last to climb the ladder to cut down the OSU nets. The team battled JMU throughout the entire game. JMU (29-8) led 13-12 early in the first half before Oklahoma State (22-12) rattled off 11 straight points to turn the tide. JMU stayed within reach, though, in part because of Tarik Hislop’s 16 points and 13 from Nikki Newman and 10 from Lauren Whitehurst. Oklahoma State’s defense held JMU to 35.4 percent shooting for the game. On the offensive side, the Cowgirls shot 48.3 percent and were led by MVP Toni Young, who had 25 points and nine rebounds. Joining Young on the All-Tournament team was teammate Liz Donohoe, who had her fifth straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Also named to the all-tournament team were JMU’s Kirby Burkholder and Hislop, as well as Kayla Alexander of Syracuse and Dominique Conners of San Diego. STATS COMPARISON JMU Okla. St. Points 68 75 FG Made-Attempted 23-65 29-60 FG Percentage .354 .483 3PT Made-Attempted 7-23 1-7 3PT Percentage .304 .143 FT Made-Attempted 15-19 16-26 FT Percentage .789 .615 Rebounds 41 40 Turnovers 16 14 Media Contact: Andy Hansen | (970) 672-0517 | [email protected] /womensnationalinvitationtournament www.womensnit.com 3930 Automation Way - Fort Collins, CO 80525 @WomensNIT | #wnit POSTSEASON WNIT Tournament Notes/Records www.womensnit.com INDIVIDUAL RECORDS MOST POINTS - GAME MOST ASSISTS - GAME 45 Tamika Whitmore, Memphis vs. Arkansas St., 3/17/99 13 Dee Dee Pate, Wisconsin vs. Memphis, 3/20/99 13 Kelsey Corbin, Ball State vs. Kentucky, 3/19/07 MOST POINTS - TOURNAMENT 147 Danielle McCray, Kansas (2009) MOST ASSISTS - TOURNAMENT 43 Yolanda Paige, West Virginia (2005) MOST FIELD GOALS MADE - GAME 18 Aisha Hollans, University of Southern California vs.