University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Hoops Land At-Large Berth in WNIT
3/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lady Eagle Hoops Land At-Large Berth in WNIT
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss women's basketball team will be one of three in Conference USA playing in postseason as the Lady Eagles earned an at-large berth in the 2015 WNIT for the second-straight year.
Game dates and times will be announced by WNIT officially announced later tonight.
The Lady Eagles (22-10) is playing in post season for the second straight year and the 13th time overall. This is Southern Miss' fifth appearance in the WNIT and owns a 4-5 record in WNIT. The Lady Eagles advanced to the second round of the WNIT in last season before losing at Mississippi in overtime.
First-round action tips off Wednesday, March 18 and concludes Friday, March 20. Second-round games begin March 21-24, round three 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 and in HD on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET. All games are hosted by participating schools.
This year's tournament features six teams from the Mid-American Conference and four from the West Coast Conference. Ten conferences each placed three teams - American, Atlantic 10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Sky, Colonial, C-USA, Horizon and Missouri Valley. Other conferences represented include: Big West (2), Mountain West (2), Pac-12 (2), SEC (2), American East (1), Atlantic Sun (1), Big South (1), Big Ten (1), Ivy League (1), MAAC (1), MEAC (1), Northeastern (1), Ohio Valley (1), Patriot (1), Southern (1), Southland (1), SWAC (1), Summit (1), Sun Belt (1) and WAC (1).
Seven teams won their regular season conference title: Colorado State (MWC), Hampton (MEAC), Hawaii (Big West), South Dakota (Summit), Stephen F Austin (Southland), Texas Southern (SWAC) and UT Martin (OVC).
"The quality depth within Division-I women's basketball is more obvious with each passing season, and the 2015 Postseason WNIT field is another example of how many high-achieving programs are out there," said WNIT Director Renee Carlson. "And now, these teams will direct their energies toward wrapping up the season with a sense of purpose, and that should make for some great competition."
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.
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 300 amateur sporting events across the country in volleyball, fastpitch softball, baseball, and basketball. With 32 years of experience in the event business, TCS is nationally recognized as a premier tournament organization.
The official WNIT bracket, which will include matchups and dates, will be announced later tonight by 11:30 p.m. ET. Game times will be announced by officials on Tuesday, March 17. For complete information on the tournament, please visit www.womensnit.com
2015 Tournament Field (Alphabetical Order) AQ = Automatic Qualifier School Record Conference Akron 22-8 MAC Arkansas State (AQ) 23-10 Sun Belt Army (AQ) 23-7 Patriot Ball State (AQ) 17-13 MAC Buffalo 19-12 MAC Central Connecticut St (AQ) 19-12 NEC Cleveland State 19-12 Horizon Colorado State (AQ) 23-7 MWC CSU Bakersfield (AQ) 23-8 WAC Creighton 17-13 Big East Drake (AQ) 20-10 MVC Drexel (AQ) 20-10 Colonial Duquesne (AQ) 21-10 Atlantic 10 East Carolina 21-10 American Eastern Michigan 22-12 MAC Eastern Washington 20-11 Big Sky Elon 19-12 Colonial ETSU (AQ) 21-11 Southern Fordham 20-11 Atlantic 10 Fresno State 22-9 MWC Georgia Tech 18-14 ACC Hampton (AQ) 18-12 MEAC Hawaii (AQ) 23-8 Big West Hofstra 20-12 Colonial Kansas State 18-13 Big 12 Long Beach State 22-9 Big West Maine (AQ) 23-8 America East Marist (AQ) 21-11 MAAC Michigan (AQ) 16-14 Big Ten Missouri (AQ) 17-13 SEC Missouri State 18-14 MVC Middle Tennessee (AQ) 21-9 C-USA NC State 16-14 ACC Northern Colorado 20-12 Big Sky Northern Iowa 17-14 MVC Old Dominion 20-12 C-USA Ole Miss 17-13 SEC Pacific 21-9 WCC Penn (AQ) 20-8 Ivy Radford (AQ) 17-13 Big South Richmond 18-13 Atlantic 10 Sacramento State (AQ) 16-15 Big Sky Saint Mary's 20-10 WCC San Diego (AQ) 24-6 WCC San Francisco 19-13 WCC South Dakota (AQ) 25-7 Summit Southern Miss 22-10 C-USA St John's 21-10 Big East Stephen F Austin (AQ) 23-7 Southland Stetson (AQ) 23-7 Atlantic Sun TCU (AQ) 17-13 Big 12 Temple 16-16 American Texas Southern (AQ) 19-10 SWAC Toledo 18-13 MAC Tulsa (AQ) 17-13 American UCLA (AQ) 13-18 Pacific 12 UT Martin (AQ) 22-10 OVC Villanova (AQ) 19-13 Big East Virginia (AQ) 17-13 ACC Washington State 17-14 Pacific 12 West Virginia 18-14 Big 12 Western Michigan 20-12 MAC Wright State (AQ) 25-8 Horizon Youngstown State 21-10 Horizon
