Appalachian State to face UNC Wilmington in WNIT
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University women's basketball earned its third-straight postseason tournament appearance when it was extended an invitation to the 2012 Women's National Invitation Tournament on Monday night.
The Mountaineers (25-6) will be paired up in a road contest against in-state foe UNC Wilmington on Thursday at a time yet to be announced. The Seahawks finished the year with a 20-12 record before falling to No. 7/8 Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals.
Appalachian State was one of three Southern Conference teams selected to the WNIT field of 64 teams along with Chattanooga and Davidson.
The winner of Thursday's contest will face either N.C. State or High Point in the second round of the tournament (March 17-19). The Mountaineers have appeared in the WNIT on two previous occasions, including a first round matchup with South Carolina last season.
Davidson draws James Madison in WNIT
DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Davidson women’s basketball team, regular season co-champions of the Southern Conference, drew James Madison for the first round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament as announced by the WNIT late Monday night.
Davidson earned the Southern Conference’s automatic bid into the Women’s NIT after it tied ASU with a 17-3 league mark, but won both games vs. the Mountaineers this year in two-game series. This is the Wildcats second trip to the WNIT after getting an at-large bid in 2006-07 when they drew UAB.
The ‘Cats will take their 22-9 record to Harrisonburg, Va., on Thursday, March 15, for a first-round matchup against the Dukes. Gametime will be announced Tuesday, March 13, by the WNIT. For ticket information, please contact JMU’s athletic ticket office at 540-568-3853.
Davidson is coming off a 1-1 showing at the SoCon Tournament. Seeded No. 1 for the first time, the ‘Cats took home a 69-58 quarterfinal win vs. Wofford, but were upset by fourth-seeded and eventual tournament winner Samford in the semifinals, 62-51.
It has been a solid year for head coach Michele Savage and the Wildcats, who finished a school-best 17-3 in SoCon play. Their 22 wins are second-most in school history and they rattled off a nine-game win streak, which was second-best next to the 10-game run during the 2006-07. Davidson also took homecourt advantage to a new level this year, going a program-best 12-1 at John M. Belk Arena, including a record 9-1 vs. the league.
In addition, Davidson set two team school records, breaking the single-season rebounding mark with 1,254 and blocks with 147.
Savage was tabbed the SoCon Coach of the Year by both the coaches and media, while Sophia Aleksandravicius became just the second player in program history to be named the SoCon Player of the Year as voted on by the coaches. The junior was a first-team all-league pick and joined by sophomore Laura Murray on both the coaches and media teams.
James Madison enters the WNIT with a 24-7 record after reaching the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. It marked only the second time since 2005 that the Dukes had not advanced to the championship game after winning the last two CAA Championships.
The Dukes, who have never played Davidson, had a pair of five-game win streaks throughout the regular season. They went 14-4 in the CAA, good for second-best in the league. JMU is led offensively by Tarik Hislop and Kirby Burkholder who average 14.7 and 10.5 points, respectively. Nikki Newman was voted the CAA’s Defensive Player of the Year, while Hislop was an all-league second team member and Burkholder was named to the third team.
With a win over the Dukes, the Wildcats would play the winner of Charlotte and Wake Forest in the second round, March 17-19.
The WNIT is celebrating its 15th season and has selected one of its most competitive fields in tournament history featuring 36 teams with 20 or more wins this season. The field includes 31 teams that earned an automatic berth, and 33 teams that were chosen at-large to form the 64-team field. The postseason WNIT opens with first-round games Wednesday-Friday, March 14-16. The event culminates Saturday, March 31, with the championship. All games are hosted by participating schools.
Chattanooga paired with Memphis in WNIT
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) and will extend its season against Memphis Thursday, March 15 in Memphis.
This will mark the sixth meeting between the two teams and the first since 1981. UTC is 2-3 against the Tigers and won the last meeting between the two in Memphis.
This is the 12th postseason appearance for the Lady Mocs in 13 years - all during Wes Moore's tenure. In 2000, Moore's second season at UTC, the Lady Mocs started its 11-year postseason run with a win over Alabama in the opening round of the WNIT before falling to Georgia Tech in the second round. Chattanooga made its next appearance in 2005 and defeated Villanova before falling to Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Mocs' last time in the WNIT was in 2009 against Kentucky. It was the first time UTC did not advance out of the first round.
The Lady Mocs are 22-9 overall and finished third in the Southern Conference regular season standings, one game out of first.
Memphis has advanced to the postseason for three consecutive seasons and is making its sixth appearance in the WNIT. Last year Memphis hosted Alabama and fell 80-69 to the Crimson Tide.