Siena Women's Basketball to Open Season in Preseason WNIT
Siena Sports Information
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena Women's Basketball's 2015-16 season will begin similarly to how its past season concluded - competing in a prestigious national tournament. The Saints have been selected to participate in the 2015 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament and will open their upcoming season in the event.
"We are very excited to be invited to play in the Preseason WNIT," said head coach Ali Jaques who is set to enter her fourth season as the Saints' head coach. "To be asked to participate in a prestigious tournament after last season's success is encouraging for our program. I expect it to be a challenging field and our non-conference schedule just became a lot tougher!"
In addition to the Saints, the 2015 Preseason WNIT field features Alabama State, Baylor, Chattanooga, Dartmouth, DePaul, Drexel, Indiana, Jacksonville, McNeese State, South Florida, Southern Illinois, Southern Miss, St. Bonaventure, Tennessee State and UT Arlington.
The Preseason WNIT is an annual invitation-only tournament involving 16 of the nation's top Division I women's basketball teams. A team may participate no more than once in a four-year period. Additionally, only one institution per conference may play in the tournament in the same year.
The full preseason WNIT bracket complete with matchups and game times will be released next Tuesday, June 16th. The tournament opens Nov. 13 with First Round games and each team is guaranteed to play at least three games in the event, with the teams advancing to the championship playing four games.
Siena will be making the program's second appearance in the Preseason WNIT. The Saints opened their 2002-03 season in the event, defeating Syracuse 83-66 on Nov. 15, 2002 at the ARC before falling at 14th ranked Penn State 90-61 two days later.
The Saints have also competed in the postseason version of the tournament, the Postseason WNIT, three times (1999, 2002, 2003). Siena is 2-3 all-time in the Postseason WNIT, with wins over Georgetown (1999) and Seton Hall (2003).
The Saints posted a 22-13 record last season and advanced to the championship game of the Women's Basketball Invitational. Siena's 13-win improvement from the previous season was tied for the second best turnaround in all of Division I as the Saints achieved the program's first winning season in 11 years and most victories in a dozen seasons. Siena also won 12 true road games, tied for the fourth most nationally.
The Saints' complete 2015-16 non-conference schedule will be released at a later date.
About the WNIT The Preseason WNIT began in its modern form in 1994. Since its inception, over 200 teams representing all 32 conferences have competed in the tournament. The UConn Huskies have won the championship a record three times. It is organized and produced by Triple Crown Sports, a national sports event company based in Fort Collins, Colo. For more information on the WNIT visit www.womensnit.com.