HAMDEN, CONN. - For the third consecutive season, the Quinnipiac University women's basketball team (21-12, 14-6 MAAC) has qualified for national postseason tournament play. The Bobcats have accepted a bid into the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), and will take on the Villanova Wildcats (22-8, 12-6 Big East) in the first round on Wednesday, March 19th. The tip off time will be announced on Tuesday. Quinnipiac will travel to Villanova for the opening round.
This marks the Bobcats' fourth Division I national postseason appearance, and their third entrance into the WNIT (2008, 2012). The Bobcats were defeated in the WNIT first round on March 19, 2008 by Iona and fell to Temple in the first round on March 15, 2012. Quinnipiac also earned a bid into the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
The WNIT features a 64 team field made up of automatic qualifiers as well as at-large candidates not participating in the NCAA Tournament. All 63 games are played on campus sites. The teams that made the tournament with automatic bids include: Iona, Stony Brook, Southern Utah, High Point, Cal Poly, Delaware, Princeton, North Carolina A & T, Indiana State. The full field was announced on Monday night.
The winner of Quinnipiac and Villanova will face the winner of George Washington and East Carolina in the second round of the WNIT.
Quinnipiac is 0-1 all-time against Villanova, with the lone meeting coming in November of 2001.