-A record 39 teams in the 2017 WNIT field recorded 20 or more victories coming into the event.

Transcription

1 2017 Postseason WNIT The tournament is a single-elimination event with all games played at sites of host schools. The WNIT is committed to offering deserved opportunities to women s basketball programs, and the 2017 Postseason WNIT features a full 64-team bracket. The WNIT offers teams an opportunity for more practice time, to experience playoff-atmosphere games, to play in front of passionate fans, and to use their WNIT success as motivation for next season. First-round action tips off Wednesday, March 15 and concludes Friday, March 17. Second-round games will run March 18-21, Round three goes March 22-24, quarterfinals are March 25-27, and semifinals will be played March The championship game will be played Saturday, April 1 and will be televised live on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET. All games are hosted by participating schools. Tournament Notes -Six teams in the 2017 WNIT are previous champions of the event: Penn State (1998), Missouri State (2005), Wyoming (2007), Oklahoma State (2012), Drexel (2013) and last year s winner, South Dakota. -This year s tournament features five teams from the Mid-American Conference and Atlantic 10, and four teams from the Big Ten and ACC. Six conferences each placed three teams American, Big East, C-USA, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Summit. -Other conferences represented include: Atlantic Sun (2), Colonial (2), Ivy (2), SEC (2), Sun Belt (2), West Coast (2), America East (1), Big 12 (1), Big Sky (1), Big South (1), Big West (1), Horizon (1), MAAC (1), MEAC (1), Missouri Valley (1), Northeast (1), Ohio Valley (1), Patriot (1), Southern (1), Southland (1), SWAC (1), and WAC (1). -One of the potential benefits of playing in the WNIT is giving teams a springboard to future success, and there is certainly recent history to back that claim. Four teams from the 2016 WNIT quarterfinals Florida Gulf Coast, Oregon, Temple and Western Kentucky made the 2017 NCAA Tournament field. The two WNIT finalists in 2015 (UCLA and West Virginia) were seeded third and sixth in the 2016 NCAA tourney, and are seeded fourth and sixth, respectively, in this year s NCAA bracket. -A record 39 teams in the 2017 WNIT field recorded 20 or more victories coming into the event. -The 2017 WNIT features 14 teams that either won their conference or tied for first during the regular season: Abilene Christian (Southland), Bethune-Cookman (MEAC), Central Michigan (MAC), Colorado State (Mountain West), George Washington (Atlantic 10), Grambling State (SWAC), Little Rock (Sun Belt), Mercer (Southern), New Hampshire (America East), North Dakota (Big Sky), Radford (Big South), Stetson (Atlantic Sun), UC Davis (Big West) and Wright State (Horizon). -For the ninth consecutive year, the Postseason WNIT championship game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. Thad Anderson (play by play) and Ceal Barry (analyst) will call the action. Barry was head coach at Colorado for 22 years and won 510 games in her 26 years of coaching. Anderson has called play-by-play for the WNIT since 2007 and currently calls games for ESPN, CBS Sports Network, and the Pac-12 Network. -This is the 20th year of the Postseason WNIT, which is the longest running postseason event for women s basketball outside the NCAA Tournament. Looking Back The 2016 WNIT title game featured South Dakota and Florida Gulf Coast, with the host Coyotes (32-6) pulling away late to post a victory over the Eagles (33-6). The teams played in front of 7,415 fans in the last basketball game to be played at the DakotaDome, which was a record turnout for a women s game at South Dakota. Tia Hemiller tied her career high with 22 points to pace the Coyotes. Page womensnit.com

2 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 championship game is televised live nationally. The event offers 32 automatic berths, one to each established conference, and 32 at-large berths. The WNIT field and bracket is announced late on the evening of the NCAA Tournament selections. Tournament officials award an Automatic Qualifying berth to each of the nation s 32 conferences. The spot goes to the team that finishes the highest in the regular-season conference standings that does not advance to the NCAA Tournament. If there is a tie, the WNIT abides by the conference tiebreaker. A team earns the AQ berth regardless of its overall record. A total of 32 teams are then given an At-Large berth; a team must have an overall record of.500 or better to be considered. Triple Crown Sports The Postseason WNIT is owned and produced by Triple Crown Sports, based in Fort Collins, Colo. TCS also organizes men s and women s college basketball tournaments in Cancun, and the Preseason WNIT. TCS is the leader in youth and collegiate sports and manages more than 100 amateur sporting events across the country in volleyball, fastpitch softball, baseball and basketball. With 34 years of experience in the event business, TCS is nationally-recognized as a premier tournament organization. The Bracketing Process The Postseason WNIT continues to draw interest from all corners of the college basketball scene 64 teams getting the chance to continue their season creates a lot of excitement within rosters, coaching staffs and groups of fans. Here are some details to help explain how the event is bracketed: Q: Why aren t teams seeded? A: The WNIT field is selected after the NCAA tournament first confirms the 64 teams playing in that event. The WNIT uses a broad range of rankings systems and also considers factors like how a team is currently playing and injury concerns. In the end, 32 spots go to automatic qualifiers (teams with the highest regular-season finish in their conference that are not playing in the NCAA Tournament), with the other berths going, as determined by the WNIT selection committee, to the strongest remaining teams. The 64 teams in the WNIT are then placed in tiers, and those tiers are used to construct the brackets. In general, first-round games will have middle-tier teams facing each other, while top- tier teams face bottom-tier teams. Adjustments are commonly made, however, to make sure there are no rematches from the regular season, and that teams from the same conference do not play each other in Round 1, and ideally, Round 2. The big-picture goal is to evenly distribute team strength throughout the bracket. Other factors affecting the brackets are school days being missed, facility access, locations of teams, travel and lodging constraints, availability to host, and other issues. With all the variables teams must navigate, the WNIT has found no real point in generating a seeding for each team, because it often does not hold true with all of the factors that can affect the bracket. Q: Why is my team not playing a home game in Round 1? We have a better record! A: The WNIT is almost 100 percent of the time a breaking news development for college programs, which means access to the school s arena may be limited. There could be other events already booked; the men s NCAA Tournament may also complicate access. WNIT officials also have to consider the fan base of each potential host school, and the ability for visiting teams to get to the site in timely fashion. Keep in mind that some schools simply can t or won t devote resources needed to properly host a postseason contest. One of the WNIT s goals is to help teams build their programs with their community, and WNIT games can be a great vehicle for getting a new fan base engaged in women s college basketball. Page 2

3 2017 POSTSEASON WNIT Page womensnit.com

4 Tournament Field AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS School Record Conference Abilene Christian 22-8 Southland Bethune-Cookman MEAC BYU West Coast Central Michigan 23-8 MAC Colorado State 24-8 Mountain West George Washington 20-9 Atlantic 10 Grambling State SWAC IUPUI 24-8 Summit James Madison 24-8 Colonial Little Rock 24-8 Sun Belt Mercer 25-6 Southern Michigan 22-9 Big Ten Middle Tennessee C-USA Missouri State Missouri Valley Morehead State 21-9 Ohio Valley Navy 23-9 Patriot New Hampshire 26-5 America East North Dakota Big Sky Oklahoma State Big 12 Princeton Ivy Radford 24-8 Big South Rider 24-8 MAAC Sacred Heart Northeast Seattle WAC Stetson 26-6 Atlantic Sun UC Davis 23-7 Big West UCF American Villanova Big East Virginia ACC Washington State Pac-12 Wright State 24-8 Horizon AT LARGE TEAMS School Record Conference Alabama SEC Ball State MAC Colorado Pac-12 Drexel Colonial Duquesne Atlantic 10 Fordham Atlantic 10 Georgetown Big East Georgia Tech ACC Harvard 20-8 Ivy Indiana Big Ten Iowa Big Ten Jacksonville 23-8 Atlantic Sun Kent State MAC Louisiana Tech C-USA Northern Illinois MAC Ohio 22-9 MAC Ole Miss SEC Penn State Big Ten St. John s Big East Saint Joseph s Atlantic 10 Saint Louis 24-8 Atlantic 10 Saint Mary s West Coast South Dakota 22-8 Summit South Dakota State 22-8 Summit SMU American Southern Miss C-USA Tulane American UNLV Mountain West UT Arlington 22-8 Sun Belt Utah Pac-12 Virginia Tech ACC Wake Forest ACC Wyoming 21-9 Mountain West Page 4

5 SOUTH DAKOTA WINS WNIT CHAMPIONSHIP SCORE BY QUARTERS 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH F FGCU (33-6) SOUTH DAKOTA (32-6) Site: DakotaDome, Vermillion, SD VERMILLION, SD Tia Hemiller tied her career-high in scoring with 22 points, and South Dakota protected its fourth-quarter lead through a couple of tense moments Saturday as the Coyotes claimed the 2016 Postseason WNIT Championship by beating Florida Gulf Coast, In front of 7,415 fans in the final women s game at the DakotaDome (a record turnout for a women s game at USD), the Coyotes (32-6) got a foothold by keeping the Eagles (33-6) scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter. Entering the final 10 minutes, South Dakota had a lead, but had led by as much as 12 (41-29) when Caitlin Duffy hit a 3-pointer with 4:15 remaining in the third. Eagles center Whitney Knight, who had a career-high nine blocked shots (one off the WNIT single-game record), hit a free throw with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter to cut the Eagles deficit to 45-43; she was whistled for her fourth foul 7 seconds later and had to come out of the game. Sensing the need for some offense, Hemiller converted a three-point play at 8:14, then hit three free throws after being fouled, which pushed the Coyotes up, with 6:43 remaining. Kaneisha Atwater nearly brought the Eagles all the way back, scoring eight straight points for her team and bringing the deficit back to two, 53-51, with 5:11 remaining. With the tension building, Kelly Stewart nailed a 3-pointer with 4:31 left to send South Dakota up, 56-51; a key offensive rebound by Abigail Fogg at 3:00 allowed the Coyotes to keep the ball away from Atwater, and Stewart hit another 3 at 2:11 to build the lead to Hemiller sank the dagger at 1:34, taking a pass from Nicole Seekamp and draining a 3 to make it Stewart finished with 12 points for the Coyotes; Fogg had 10 points, nine bounds and three blocked shots, and Seekamp worked around a cold afternoon of shooting to chip in seven points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The Coyotes shot 39 percent from 3-point range and worked around their 14 turnovers. Atwater closed with 25 points for the Eagles; Taylor Gradinjan had 12 points, and Stephanie Haas added 11 points and six rebounds. Florida Gulf Coast shot 37 percent from the field and was out-rebounded, Defense dominated the mood in the first half, with South Dakota taking a lead at the break. The Eagles shot just 31 percent from the field, but got a major lift from Haas, who scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes. All-Tournament Team Maite Cazorla (Oregon) Madison Ristovski (Michigan) Kaneisha Atwater (FGCU) Whitney Knight (FGCU) Tia Hemiller (South Dakota) MVP-Nicole Seekamp (South Dakota) STATS COMPARISON FGCU USD Points FG Made-Attempted FG Percentage 36.9% 42.4% 3PT Made-Attempted PT Percentage 31.8% 38.9% FT Made-Attempted FT Percentage 62.5.% 70.0% Rebounds Turnovers 7 14 Page womensnit.com

6 RECORD BOOK INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Most Points - Game 48 Rachel Banham, Minnesota vs. Milwaukee, 3/16/16 Most Points - Tournament 147 Danielle McCray, Kansas (2009) Most Field Goals Made - Game 18 Aisha Hollans, Southern California vs. Washington, 3/17/02 Most Field Goals Made - Tournament 54 Toni Young, Oklahoma State (2012) Best Shooting Percentage - Game (min. 12 attempts).917 Kelsey Kahle, Portland State (11 for 12) vs. Portland, 3/19/09 Most 3-Pointers - Game 9 Morgan Eye, Missouri vs. Kansas State, 3/22/15 9 Jordan Jones, South Carolina vs. NCA&T, 3/21/08 Most 3-Pointers - Tournament 22 Jenny Lingor, Missouri State (2005) Best 3-point Shooting Percentage - Game (min. 6 attempts) Valerie Nainima, Long Island (6 for 6), vs. Iona, 3/15/07 Most Free Throws - Game 17 Hanna Zavecz (17 of 24), Wyoming vs. Kansas State, 3/28/07 Most Free Throws - Tournament 47 Hanna Zavecz, Wyoming (2007) Best Free Throw Shooting Percentage - Game (min. 13 attempts) Crystal Kelly, Western Kentucky (14 for 14), vs. Minnesota, 3/19/ Krysten Boogaard, Kansas (13 for 13), vs. Prairie View A&M, 3/17/ Kristi Cirone, Illinois State (13 for 13), vs. Marquette, 3/26/ Shantia Grace, South Florida (13 for 13), vs. St. Bonaventure, 3/29/09 Most Rebounds - Game 26 Katherine Plouffe, Marquette vs. Indiana State, 3/20/14 Most Rebounds - Tournament 68 Sophia Young, Baylor (2003) Most Offensive Rebounds - Game 12 Shauntal Nobles, Texas Tech vs. San Diego, 3/22/12 Most Offensive Rebounds - Tournament 20 Janese Banks, Wisconsin (2007) Most Defensive Rebounds - Game 20 Katherine Plouffe, Marquette vs. Indiana State, 3/20/14 Most Defensive Rebounds - Tournament 49 Liz Donohoe, Oklahoma State (2012) Most Assists - Game 15 Sharnae Lamar, Northern Iowa vs. Drake 3/19/16 Most Assists - Tournament 49 Nicole Seekamp, South Dakota (2016) Most Blocks - Game 10 Hillary Carlson, Wyoming, vs. Nevada, 3/19/10 Most Blocks - Tournament 24 Rachel Hollivay, Rutgers (2014) Most Steals - Game 10 Shala Crook, Ball State vs. Valparaiso, 3/16/02 Most Steals - Tournament 21 Kayla Thornton, UTEP (2014) TEAM RECORDS Most Points - Game 107 Wisconsin vs. Siena College, 03/14/99 Most Points - Tournament 452 Wyoming (2007) Most Field Goals - Game 45 Illinois vs. Wisconsin Green Bay, 3/15/01 Most Field Goals - Tournament 179 Florida (2000) Best Shooting Percentage - Game.618 South Carolina vs. Hartford, 3/18/07 Most 3-Pointers - Game 17 Missouri State vs. Iowa, 3/28/05 Most 3-Pointers - Tournament 58 Missouri State (2005) Best 3-point Shooting Percentage - Game (min. 10 attempts).750 Wyoming (9 for 12), vs. Nevada, 3/15/07 Most Free Throws - Game 37 Wyoming (37 of 52), vs. Kansas State, 3/28/07 Most Free Throws - Tournament 122 Wyoming (2007) Best Free Throw Shooting Percentage - Game (min. 15 attempts) Wisconsin (20 for 20), vs. Western Kentucky, 3/28/07 Most Rebounds - Game 62 Fresno State vs. Santa Clara, 3/21/03 62 Missouri State vs. Oral Roberts, 3/19/10 Most Rebounds - Tournament 273 California-Berkeley (2010) Most Offensive Rebounds - Game 32 South Florida vs. Florida, 3/18/10 Most Offensive Rebounds - Tournament 85 Wisconsin (2007) Most Defensive Rebounds - Game 44 Illinois State vs. Rice, 3/15/07 Most Defensive Rebounds - Tournament 184 Oklahoma State (2012) Most Assists - Game 29 South Dakota, vs. Minnesota, 3/20/16 Most Assists - Tournament 113 South Dakota (2016) Most Turnovers - Game 30 Eastern Illinois vs. Marquette, 3/18/10 30 Oral Roberts vs. Missouri State, 3/19/10 Most Turnovers - Tournament 106 James Madison University (2012) Most Steals - Game 23 Northern Colorado vs. Colorado, 3/14/12 Most Steals - Tournament 60 Houston (2002) Most Blocks - Game 16 South Florida vs. Coppin State, 3/19/07 Most Blocks - Tournament 42 Rutgers (2014) Page 6

7 WNIT HISTORY The Postseason WNIT began in 1998 with 16 teams playing for a postseason crown. The event has undergone four expansions, but its mission has remained the same: To give deserving teams a quality opportunity to play exciting games for a postseason title. Following the inaugural year, the field doubled to 32 teams and remained that way until 2006 when a renewed commitment was made to schools. The WNIT expanded to a 40-team field to give spots to teams that won their regular-season conference title but did not win their conference tournament and therefore were excluded from the NCAA Tournament. The WNIT furthered that commitment to conferences in 2007, when it expanded to 48 teams and awarded 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. The Postseason WNIT is the second longest running postseason tournament in women s college basketball history behind the NCAA Tournament. Since its inception in 1998, the WNIT has afforded hundreds of opportunities for schools in every conference to play in the postseason. WNIT games showcase the best of women s basketball, both with fan excitement and level of play (teams that do well in the Post WNIT often make a huge jump the following year to performing well in the NCAA Tournament). PAST CHAMPIONS 2016 South Dakota 2015 UCLA 2014 Rutgers 2013 Drexel 2012 Oklahoma State 2011 Toledo 2010 California 2009 South Florida 2008 Marquette 2007 Wyoming 2006 Kansas State 2005 Missouri State 2004 Creighton 2003 Auburn 2002 Oregon 2001 Ohio State 2000 Wisconsin 1999 Arkansas 1998 Penn State ATTENDANCE RECORDS The 1998 inaugural year attendance for a 16-team field was 50,479. Attendance for the next seven years when the event expanded to 32 teams averaged 83,207 per year. The WNIT attendance record of 18,018 fans in a championship game was set at the 2001 Postseason WNIT finale at New Mexico. The championship game for the 20 years of the postseason event averages nearly 10,000 spectators. Here is a look at the championship game numbers: 1998 Penn State at Baylor 10, Wisconsin at Arkansas 14, Florida at Wisconsin 13, Ohio State at New Mexico 18, Houston at Oregon 6, Auburn at Baylor 7, UNLV at Creighton 4, West Virginia at SMS 8, Marquette at Kansas State 13, Wisconsin at Wyoming 15, Marquette at Michigan State 7, South Florida at Kansas 16, Miami at California 2, Southern Cal at Toledo 7, JMU at Oklahoma State 6, Utah at Drexel 1, Rutgers at UTEP 12, UCLA at West Virginia 8, FGCU at South Dakota 7,415 TOP-10 CROWDS 1. New Mexico - 18,018 Ohio State at New Mexico, Championship Game Kansas - 16,113 South Florida at Kansas, Championship Game Wyoming - 15,462 Wisconsin at Wyoming, Championship Game Arkansas - 14,163 Wisconsin at Arkansas, Championship Game Kansas State - 13,340 Marquette at Kansas State, Championship Game Wisconsin - 13,006 Florida at Wisconsin, Championship Game Wyoming - 12,225 Kansas State at Wyoming, Semifinal Game UTEP - 12,222 Rutgers at UTEP, Championship Game UTEP - 12,222 South Dakota State at UTEP, Semifinal Game Wyoming - 11,253 South Dakota State at Wyoming, Quarterfinal Game 2007 Page womensnit.com

8 YEAR-BY-YEAR OVERVIEW 1998 The Postseason WNIT began in March of 1998 and involved 16 teams from around the country. Penn State defeated Baylor in Waco, Texas in front of 10,057 extremely vocal hometown fans. Attendance for the two semifinal games and championship game averaged 7,970 spectators per game The event was expanded to involve 32 schools. Arkansas and Wisconsin drew a WNIT record 14,161 women s basketball fans for the championship matchup at Arkansas The tournament saw Wisconsin reach the championship game for the second year in a row. This time, however, Wisconsin was victorious against Florida in front of a crowd of 13,006 fans in Madison, Wis Ohio State overcame a 12-point deficit against New Mexico to beat the host Lobos at The Pit in front of 18,018 fans. This championship game sold out eight hours after tickets went on sale to the general public. The sell-out was the third fastest in the history of the facility Oregon scored with 2.4 seconds remaining to give Oregon the Women's NIT championship with a victory over Houston before a season-high 6,835 fans at McArthur Court at Eugene, Ore Auburn overcame a six-point Baylor lead in the final two and a half minutes to win the championship game. Auburn edged Baylor in front of a deafening crowd of 7,314 at Waco, Texas. The winning basket came with 3.2 seconds left in the contest Creighton dominated UNLV from start to finish for a victory in front of 4,180 fans in Omaha. This was the second largest home crowd in school history for Creighton Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) defeated West Virginia in the championship. A sellout crowd of 8,870 vocal fans witnessed the final game for the team before the school changed its name to Missouri State. Jenny Lingor set the WNIT scoring record with 116 points in five games and the team made a WNIT record 58 3-pointers during their tournament run Kansas State overcame a one-point halftime deficit and Marquette s hot 3-point shooting to win the WNIT championship. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 13,340 at the time the third largest in WNIT history In the 10th year of the Postseason WNIT, Wyoming rolled with six straight wins, including a victory over Wisconsin in the championship. The entire state of Wyoming got behind the Cowgirls, as they sold out the final game in less than 10 hours, and drew 52,541 fans for the entire event, including 15,462 for the championship South Florida relied on veteran leadership and took a cue from the 2008 Marquette team to win three straight road games, including a championship at Kansas. South Florida edged the Jayhawks in front of a Kansas and Big 12 conference record-setting crowd of 16,113 fans at venerable Allen Fieldhouse California won six straight games, including two on the road, to capture its first national title. The Golden Bears defeated Miami in a championship game that showcased some of the nation s best upand-coming players Toledo steamrolled its way to a championship that energized the entire community. The Rockets hosted all six games, defeating Delaware, Auburn, Alabama, Syracuse, Charlotte, and USC. Toledo sold out its semifinal and championship games at more than 7,000 fans each, which set school and conference attendance records Oklahoma State wrapped up an emotional season that started with the Cowgirls losing head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna in a plane crash. The season ended with an amazing storybook finish as the Cowgirls won game after game, until they defeated JMU to win the Postseason WNIT title Drexel (28-10) set a school record for victories and captured the program s first postseason title by defeating Utah after taking the lead with 21 seconds left in the championship game. The Dragons route to the title included wins over Auburn, Bowling Green, and Florida Rutgers Tyler Scaife drove the length of the court and hit a layup with 2 seconds on the clock to give the Scarlet Knights a victory and their first Postseason WNIT championship. Rutgers defeated UTEP in front of a capacity crowd of 12,222 at the Don Haskins Center, which sold out in less than two hours Freshman Jordin Canada scored a career-high 31 points to lead the UCLA women s basketball team past West Virginia, 62-60, to win the 2015 Women s NIT Championship on Saturday at the Charleston Civic Center.Canada connected on 9 of 19 shots from the field and made 13 of 15 free throws, helping UCLA (19-18) win its sixth consecutive game. She was the Bruins only player to score in double figures, shattering her previous career high of 19 points, in addition to tallying four steals and two assists In front of a school-record crowd of 7,415 fans watching the final basketball game at the DakotaDome before a new arena was built, the University of South Dakota held off Florida Gulf Coast in a team-oriented victory. FGCU had pulled within 2 points at with 5 minutes left in the game, but USD stepped up on both ends of the court to wrap up the title Marquette beat the odds and became the first team to win three road games in the Postseason WNIT. The Golden Eagles topped Michigan State in front of 7,818 fans at the Breslin Center to capture their first postseason championship. Page 8