Northern Colorado Selected To Compete In Preseason WNIT
GREELEY, Colo. - The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team is one of 16 Division I teams making up the field of the 2009 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament, it was announced on Wednesday. A total of 11 of the 16 teams played in the postseason in 2008-09.
The Bears play at New Mexico in the first round on Nov. 13 in one of the best-attended arenas in women's basketball. Last season, the Lobos advanced to the quarterfinals of the postseason WNIT and return all but two players from a 25-11 team.
Northern Colorado posted a 12-18 record in 2008-09 and returns 12 players off that team, including six players who had multiple starts and leading scorer and all-conference selection Courtney Stoermer. The Bears are the first Big Sky Conference team to be selected for the preseason WNIT since Idaho State competed in 2006 and lost to BYU in the first round.
"This is a great honor for both Northern Colorado and women's basketball," said Head Coach Jaime White. "We are really looking forward to playing at New Mexico to start our season. It will be a great experience for our team to play in that environment and begin the year with three games against the quality of competition the WNIT has selected.
The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The event opens Friday, Nov. 13 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played Nov. 15-16; semifinals will be Nov. 18-19; and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 22. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 20-22. All games are hosted by participating schools, and sites are announced by the end of the preceding round.
Other schools competing in the WNIT are Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Tech, Marist, New Mexico, North Carolina A&T, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Towson, UTEP, West Virginia, and Winthrop.
First-round Preseason WNIT games
All 2008-2009 team records in parentheses
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
Eastern Illinois (24-9) at Ohio State (29-6), 5 p.m. ET
UTEP (18-12) at Florida Gulf Coast (26-5), 7 p.m. ET
Arkansas-Little Rock (26-7) at Oklahoma State (17-16), 7 p.m.
ET
Towson (17-13) at West Virginia (18-15), 7 p.m. ET
Winthrop (16-16) at Georgia Tech (22-10), 7:30 p.m. ET
Chicago State (16-13) at Bowling Green (29-5), 7:30 p.m. ET
North Carolina A&T (26-7) at Marist (29-4), 7:30 p.m. ET
Northern Colorado (12-18) at New Mexico (25-11), 9 p.m. ET
For more information, contact WNIT Director Renee Carlson at (970) 672-0557, or visit the website at www.womensnit.com.
