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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – After winning 22 games and posting one of the biggest turnaround stories in the nation, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team was rewarded with a berth to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), announced Monday, March 15, by the tournament selection committee. The Eagles will open the Postseason WNIT with a 7 p.m. game Wednesday, March 17, against Purdue University.
The WNIT kicks off postseason action Wednesday with first-round games. All games are held on the campuses of participating schools. All 64 teams will play in the first round, featuring 32 games. That will be followed by 16 games in Round 2, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and the championship. The WNIT championship game will be played Saturday, April 3, and will be hosted by one of the two final participating schools.
The WNIT awards an automatic qualifying berth to each of the nation’s 31 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 automatic qualifying berth regardless of its overall record. However, to be considered for a WNIT at-large berth, a team must have an overall record of .500 or better.
This year’s field features five teams each from the Big Ten, Big East, Atlantic 10, and Colonial Conferences. The Mountain West has four teams, and the Pac 10, Missouri Valley, Mid-American, Conference USA, and ACC have three each. Other conferences with more than one team in the field include: Big 12 (2), SEC (2), West Coast (2), and WAC (2).
After going 8-21 and 4-12 in the MAC last year, third-year Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert and her Eagles have posted one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation, now with a 22-8 record. Additionally, the Eagles are the first Mid-American Conference women’s basketball program to post a 20-win season following a year in which the team won less than 10 games.
Eastern Michigan (22-8, 11-5) enters having won four of its last five contests. The high-flying Eagles are the MAC's No. 1 scoring unit, averaging 72.6 points per game (24th nationally), but are ranked ninth in field goal percentage (.394). On the flip side, they are ranked sixth in scoring defense, allowing 64.2 points per game, but lead the circuit in steals (11.7) and turnover margin (+4.6).
Sophomore guard Tavelyn James is the top scorer in the league, averaging 20.4 points per contest (11th nationally). Wadsworth, Ohio native Cassie Schrock is second in the MAC, averaging 5.53 assists per game.
EMU participated in the Preseason WNIT in 2000-01 also against Purdue before making back-to-back appearances in the Postseason WNIT during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 campaigns.
The Boilermakers are a member of the Big Ten Conference and enter the tournament with a 14-16 record after falling to the University of Wisconsin, 73-51, in the Big Ten Tournament, March 5.
Here are the first-round pairings:
Round 1
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
SMU at New Mexico
UC Davis at Cal
New Mexico State at Arizona State
Butler at Illinois State
Eastern Michigan at Purdue
Prairie View A&M at Kansas
American at Old Dominion
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Eastern Washington at Oregon
Pepperdine at BYU
Houston at Texas Tech
Eastern Illinois at Marquette
Mississippi at Samford
Providence at Boston University
Gardner-Webb at Charlotte
North Carolina A&T at Wake Forest
South Florida at Florida
Florida Gulf Coast at Miami
Robert Morris at St. Bonaventure
Duquesne at Northwestern
Harvard at Syracuse
Richmond at Delaware
VCU at St. Joseph’s
Hofstra at Penn State
Friday, March 19, 2010
Nevada at Wyoming
Stephen F. Austin at Creighton
Illinois at Western Kentucky
Oral Roberts at Missouri State
Iona at Maryland
Eastern Carolina at Drexel
Kent State at Michigan
Pittsburgh at Toledo
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Utah at St. Mary’s (CA)
31 Automatic Berths with team record
American (22-9), Patriot
Boston University (16-14), America East
Brigham Young (20-9), Mountain West
Butler (23-9), Horizon
California (18-13), Pac 10
Charlotte (17-13), Atlantic 10
Eastern Illinois (23-10), Ohio Valley
Eastern Washington (19-11), Big Sky
Florida (14-16), SEC
Florida Gulf Coast (24-6), Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb (28-4), Big South
Harvard (20-8), Ivy League
Houston (17-14), Conference USA
Illinois State (24-7), Missouri Valley
Iona (18-13), Metro Atlantic
Nevada (17-15), WAC
North Carolina A&T (21-10), Mid-Eastern
Old Dominion (18-13), Colonial
Oral Roberts (23-9), Summit
Prairie View A&M (15-13), SWAC
Providence (16-14), Big East
Purdue (14-16), Big Ten
Robert Morris (23-8), Northeast
Saint Mary’s – CA (21-9), West Coast
Samford (22-10), Southern
Stephen F. Austin (18-10), Southland
Texas Tech (17-13), Big 12
Toledo (24-8), MAC
UC Davis (21-10), Big West
Wake Forest (18-13), Atlantic Coast
Western Kentucky (21-10), Sun Belt
33 At-large Berths with team record
Arizona State (17-13), Pac 10
Creighton (20-10), Missouri Valley
Delaware (21-11), Colonial
Drexel (17-13), Colonial
Duquesne (20-11), Atlantic 10
East Carolina (22-10), Conference USA
Eastern Michigan (22-8), Mid-American
Hofstra (19-13), Colonial
Illinois (16-14), Big Ten
Kansas (15-15), Big 12
Kent State (20-10), Mid-American
Marquette (16-15), Big East
Maryland (19-12), Atlantic Coast
Miami (17-13), Atlantic Coast
Michigan (17-13), Big Ten
Mississippi (17-14), SEC
Missouri State (20-10), Missouri Valley
New Mexico (18-12), Mountain West
New Mexico State (18-13), WAC
Northwestern (16-14), Big Ten
Oregon (16-15), Pac 10
Penn State (17-13), Big Ten
Pepperdine (20-11), West Coast
Pittsburgh (16-14), Big East
Richmond (19-12), Atlantic 10
Saint Bonaventure (22-9), Atlantic 10
Saint Joseph’s (17-14), Atlantic 10
South Florida (15-15), Big East
SMU (20-10), Conference USA
Syracuse (22-10), Big East
Utah (22-11), Mountain West
VCU (20-12), Colonial
Wyoming (19-11), Mountain West