March 12, 2012
2012 WNIT Bracket
SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State women's basketball team will be returning to the postseason for the third consecutive year after receiving the Missouri Valley Conference's automatic bid to the 2012 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) late Monday evening. To kick off the 18th postseason tournament trip in school history, the Lady Bears (22-8) will host a first round game against the University of Missouri-Kansas City (22-11) at 7:05 p.m. Thursday (March 15) at JQH Arena.
Missouri State (22-8, 14-4) saw its bid to sweep both the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles with Saturday's semifinal loss to Creighton in the league meet. The Lady Bears won their first MVC title since 2005 with a 14-4 league record that included an 11-game winning streak after a 3-3 start.
UMKC (22-11) enters the WNIT after finishing fourth in the Summit League with an 11-7 conference record. The Lady Bears are 5-1 all-time against the Kangaroos, and share one common opponent this season in Oral Roberts. Missouri State won 85-79 at ORU in Novermber, and UMKC split home-and-home conference meetings with the Golden Eagles.
Tickets to Thursday's first-round game will go on sale Tuesday (March 13) at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at the Chevy Pickup Window at JQH Arena, on-line at www.MissouriStateTix.com or by calling (417) 836-7678.
Current season ticket holders will have until 5 p.m. Wednesday (March 14) to claim their seats before they are made available for public purchase. Individual ticket prices for all WNIT games at JQH Arena are $5 for students and children 12 and under, $10 for adults, $12.50 for lower-level and suites, and $25 for loge and courtside seats.
The Lady Bears, who went 1-1 in last year's Postseason WNIT, will be making their fifth appearance in the tournament with an all-time record of 8-3 in the event. MSU dropped an overtime decision to Eastern Kentucky in the opening round of the 2002 meet, then swept the WNIT field with five straight victories in 2005 to claim their first national tournament title. In 2010, the Lady Bears knocked off Oral Roberts and Samford before falling to Illinois in the third round at JQH Arena, and defeated Rice before falling to Arkansas in the second round last year.
The 64-team, single-elimination WNIT will consist of 31 automatic berths and 33 at-large selections, with all games played at host school sites. An automatic bid was offered to each established Division I conference to the team that finished highest during the regular season and did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 33 at-large bids were filled by the top remaining teams available, as decided by a series of factors. All Division I teams with overall records of .500 or better are considered for the at-large berths.
Dates for the 2012 WNIT include first-round games on March 14-16 second-round contests on March 17-19, third-round match-ups on March 21-23, quarterfinal games on March 24-26, semifinal pairings on March 28-29, and the championship game on March 31. For more information, including a complete listing of game times and dates for the 2012 WNIT, visit the website at www.womensnit.com.
