Thursday, June 29, 2006

Ft. Collins, Colo. – On the heels of a stellar season highlighted by trips to the Atlantic Sun tournament and Postseason WNIT, the Belmont women’s basketball team received news today that it was selected to participate in the 2006 Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

The Bruins are one of 16 teams from around the country chosen for the event. The field for the prestigious women’s college basketball tournament includes 11 teams that played in the postseason last season. Baylor, BYU, Dartmouth, Hartford, North Carolina State, Purdue, St. John’s and Stanford played in the NCAA Tournament, and Belmont, Hofstra and Idaho State qualified for the Postseason WNIT field.

They will be joined by High Point, Iona, Loyola-Marymount, North Texas and Wichita State in this fall’s Preseason WNIT. In the first round, Belmont will face off against first-time opponent Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. on November 9th at 6 p.m. CST.

The Bruins finished the 2005-06 campaign with a 22-8 overall record and a 17-3 A-Sun mark. The Boilermakers finished last season with a 26-7 overall record and a 13-3 Big Ten mark. The single-elimination tournament opens Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 with first-round games.

Second-round games will be played on Nov. 12-13, semifinals on Nov. 15-16 and the championship is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 19. All games are played on home campuses, which are determined after each round. Below are this year’s pairings.

First-round games:
All 2005-2006 team records in parentheses
Thursday, November 9
Belmont (22-8) at Purdue (26-7), 7 p.m. ET
Iona (17-12) at St. John’s (22-8), 7 p.m. ET
High Point (20-10) at N.C. State (19-12), 7 p.m.
ET Loyola-Marymount (17-12) at Stanford (26-8), 7 p.m. PT

Friday, November 10
Dartmouth (23-7) at Hartford (27-4), 7 p.m. ET
North Texas (19-8) at Baylor (26-7), 7 p.m. CT
Hofstra (19-12) at Wichita State (15-13), 7 p.m. CT
Idaho State (17-13) at BYU (26-6), 7 p.m. MT