Women’s Basketball Earns WNIT At-Large Bid
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Following its best season in recent years, the Cleveland State women's basketball team has earned an at-large bid to play in the 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament. The Vikings earned a spot in the 64-team field and will face Michigan on Wednesday, March 18 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Game time will be set tomorrow (Tuesday, March 17).
This marks the fourth time that Cleveland State will make a postseason appearance under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad, and the first since the 2010-11 season. While the Vikings own a 1-3 record in postseason play, this will be the first time that Cleveland State will be playing in the WNIT.
Cleveland State enters the WNIT with a 19-12 overall record – marking the fifth time that the Vikings have reached 19 wins over the past 12 seasons. The Vikings also finished the regular season with a 10-6 mark in Horizon League action, earning the No. 3 seed in the 2015 Horizon League Tournament.
Cleveland State is one of three Horizon League teams in this year's WNIT field, joining Wright State and Youngstown State. The Raiders earned the league's automatic bid into the tournament field, while the Penguins also earned an at-large bid.
Michigan enters the tournament with a 16-14 overall record, and advanced to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. This will be the fifth meeting between the Wolverines and the Vikings, but the first since the 1986-87 season. The overall series between the two teams is tied at 2-2.
The 64-team WNIT field is comprised of 32 automatic qualifiers and 32 at-large bids. The official WNIT bracket can be found by clicking the link below:
2015 WNIT BRACKET
First round action of the WNIT tips off Wednesday, March 18 and concludes Friday, March 20. Second round games begin March 21-24, round three will be held March 25-27, quarterfinals March 28-30, and semifinals April 1-2. The championship game will be played Saturday, April 4 and will be televised live on CBS Sports Network at 3:00 p.m. EST. All games will be hosted by participating schools.
**Release courtesy of Cleveland State Athletic Communications.
Women Travel to Toledo for First-Ever WNIT Game
The Wright State women’s basketball team will travel to Toledo for its first-ever game in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament Friday night. Game time is yet to be determined.
The Raiders (25-8), who received the Horizon League’s automatic bid to the WNIT, will be making their fourth postseason appearance in five years under head coach Mike Bradbury. WSU participated in the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2011 and 2012 and made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2014 against Kentucky.
Toledo (18-13) and Wright State have five common opponents this season in Cleveland State, Purdue, Dayton, Detroit and Southern Illinois. The Raiders went 2-1 against Cleveland State, 2-0 versus Detroit, defeated Southern Illinois and lost to Purdue and Dayton while the Rockets defeated Southern Illinois but lost to the other four teams.
This will be the ninth all-time meeting between Wright State and Toledo, with the Rockets holding a 5-3 series lead. The two teams have met just twice since the 1982-83 season, with UT winning both (69-66 at Toledo on December 10, 2005 and 62-59 at the Nutter Center on November 29, 2006).
The winner faces the Michigan-Cleveland State winner in the second round on a date to be determined between March 22-24.
**Release courtesy of Wright State Athletic Communications.
YSU Women To Host Duquesne In First Round of WNIT
The Youngstown State women's basketball team will play host to Duquesne, which finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference, in the first round of the Women's NIT on Thursday at the Beeghly Center.
The game is presented locally by Medical Mutual of Ohio, the official healthcare provider of Youngstown State University.
The official game time for the contest will be announced on Tuesday.
Tickets for the contest are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-12. The YSU Athletic Ticket Office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets will be available at the Beeghly Center one hour prior to game time on Thursday.
Both teams finished with identical 21-10 records for the 2014-15 campaign. ESPN.com has the Dukes as one of the first four out of this year's NCAA Tournament field which was announced earlier this evening.
The winner of the YSU-Duquesne game will play the winner of the Stetson-Richmond game in the round of 32. That contest is Friday at Stetson.
YSU last played Duquesne in Wilmington, N.C., on Nov. 25, 2006. The Penguins lead the all-time series 8-5, including a 6-0 mark at home. The last contest in Youngstown between the programs was on Jan. 5, 1991. The 2006 meeting was the lone matchup between the two team's in that span.
It marks the second time in three years that Youngstown State will play in the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
Youngstown State joins fellow conference members Wright State and Cleveland State in the field of 64. YSU and Cleveland State are the first Horizon League programs to earn an at-large berth since the tournament starting awarding automatic bids to each conference in 2007.
"I'm so proud of our team for the work they put in to clinch our second postseason appearance in the last three years," Coach John Barnes said. "I'm thrilled for Heidi (Schlegel) and Tish (Latisha Walker) that their careers will continue, and they were the driving force behind our push toward the end of the year."
YSU is 1-0 in home WNIT contests having defeated Indiana State in the opening round in 2013. The Penguins beat the Sycamores, 63-51.
Thursday's game will be carried live on 570 WKBN. TV and video streaming information will be released in the near future.
**Release courtesy of Youngstown State Athletic Communications.
Tags: Cleveland State - Women's Basketball · Horizon League - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball · Youngstown State - Women's Basketball
