Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU to Host High Point in WNIT
March 17, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Falcons, Panthers to meet Thursday (March 20) at the Stroh Center
LINKS
WNIT Bracket | Official Release from WNIT
Ticket information will be announced Tuesday.
"We are looking forward to having another opportunity to play in front of our fans at the Stroh Center," said Roos. "We are fortunate to still be playing in a national postseason tournament, and we look forward to Thursday's game."
BGSU, which earned the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the WNIT by virtue of winning the league's regular-season championship, will enter Thursday's game with an overall record of 27-4. The Falcons finished MAC regular-season play with a 17-1 record. The Falcons' division title was the program's ninth in the last 10 seasons, and BG has captured the MAC's overall regular-season crown in eight of those 10 years.
The Falcons are appearing in a national postseason tournament for the 10th consecutive year, a MAC record.
High Point earned the automatic bid out of the Big South Conference. The Panthers (22-10, 16-4 Big South) captured the league's regular-season title, then defeated UNC Asheville and Campbell in the Big South Tournament before falling to Winthrop in the championship game.
The Panthers set a program record for wins in a Division-I season this year. Head coach DeUnna Hendrix was named the Big South Coach of the Year, while Kaylah Keys took home league freshman-of-the-year honors. Keys was also named to the All-Big South First Team, as was redshirt junior Stacia Robertson, and both players were named to the league's all-tournament team as well.
This season marks the sixth time the Falcons have advanced to the Postseason WNIT, and the fifth trip in the last seven years. The Falcons hosted Butler in WNIT action in 1998, losing a 95-90 decision at Anderson Arena in the team's first-ever appearance in the tourney.
Six years ago (2008), the Brown and Orange picked up a home win over Dayton before losing at Michigan State.
The following March, the Falcons were awarded a first-round bye in the then 48-team event, and BG played a pair of games at Anderson. The Falcons downed Syracuse by a 72-69 count in second-round action at "The House That Roars," then fell to visiting Indiana, 75-67, in the third round.
Two years ago, VCU scored at the buzzer for a 72-71 win over the Falcons in first-round action at the Stroh. Last March, BGSU played three WNIT games at home, downing SMU and Duquesne before falling by three points to eventual tournament champion Drexel.
BGSU enters the HPU game with a record of 13-0 at the Stroh this season, and the Falcons are 41-7 in the building since it opened in time for the start of the 2011-12 campaign. Seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein have helped the Falcons post a 55-8 record in home games since their arrival on campus, with school record-tying totals of 14 wins in each of their first three seasons, and 13 wins at home this year to date.
The Falcons' third senior on the active roster, Alexis Rogers, transferred from Duke and sat out the final season at Anderson before playing each of the three years at the Stroh.
Thursday's game features a pair of conference coaches of the year, as Roos earned the MAC honor from her peers. Halfhill and Rogers were named to the All-MAC First Team, while redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan earned all-league honorable mention.
The BGSU-High Point winner will meet either St. Bonaventure or Charlotte in the second round of the tournament, with that game to be played sometime freom Saturday (March 22) through next Tuesday (March 25) at a site to be determined. SBU hosts Charlotte in first-round action on Friday (March 21).
The WNIT field includes 10 teams that were crowned regular-season conference champions, tying a WNIT record set in 2013, and 35 teams with 20 or more wins.
Now in its 17th year, the Postseason WNIT is the second longest current running postseason event for women's college basketball, behind the NCAA Tournament. In addition, it is the only men's or women's postseason tournament – other than the NCAA – to offer an automatic berth to each of the 32 established conferences.
All games during the tournament are hosted by participating schools with first-round games opening March 19-21, followed by round two (March 22-25), round three (March 26-28), round four (March 29-31), semifinals (April 2-3), and championship (April 5 at 3 p.m. ET). The championship game will be nationally televised live in HD on CBS Sports Network with Thad Anderson (play-by-play) and Ceal Barry (analyst) calling the action.
Conference USA leads the field with six teams selected, followed by five from the Big East, and four from the Atlantic 10, Big Ten, and Pac-12. The American, MAC, SEC, and WCC each have three schools represented. Other conferences in the field include: Big Sky (2), Big West (2), Ivy (2), Metro Atlantic (2), Patriot (2), Summit (2), ACC (1), America East (1), Atlantic Sun (1), Big 12 (1), Big South (1), Colonial (1), Horizon (1), MEAC (1), Missouri Valley (1), Mountain West (1), NEC (1), Ohio Valley (1), Southern (1), Southland (1), Sun Belt (1), SWAC (1), and WAC (1).
The official website is www.womensnit.com and you can follow updates on Twitter at this handle @womensNIT.
The Selection Process
The WNIT committee selects 64 teams for its Postseason tournament. The field consists of 32 automatic berths – one from each conference – and 32 at-large teams. The intention of the WNIT Selection Committee is to select the 32 best available at-large teams in the nation.
A team that is offered an automatic berth by the WNIT must meet these criteria: 1.) the highest-finishing team in its conference's regular-season standings, and 2.) is not selected for the NCAA Tournament. A team that fulfills these qualities will earn the WNIT automatic berth for its respective conference, regardless of overall record.
The remaining 32 berths in the Postseason WNIT were filled by the best teams available. All Division I teams are eligible for consideration. Any team considered for an at-large berth must have an overall record of .500 or better. Overall record includes conference tournament games.
About the WNIT
The Women's National Invitation Tournament is an annual tournament involving 64 of the nation's top women's Division I basketball teams. All games, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools. Every round is single elimination. The WNIT offers teams an opportunity to get more practices in, to experience playoff-atmosphere games, to play in front of passionate fans, and to use their WNIT success as a springboard to the next season. The tournament started in 1998 with 16 teams, expanded to 32 schools in 1999, and then to its current 64-team field in 2010.
About Triple Crown Sports
The WNIT is produced by Triple Crown Sports which is based in Fort Collins, Colo. TCS also organizes men's and women's preseason college basketball tournaments in Mexico (Cancun Challenge), and the Preseason WNIT. In addition, TCS manages roughly 300 youth sporting events across the country in basketball, baseball, fastpitch softball, and volleyball. With over 30 years of experience in the event business, TCS is nationally recognized as a premier tournament organization.
WNIT FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS
(all times TBA)
Wednesday, March 19
Washington State at Montana
TCU at Colorado
Green Bay at Minnesota
Quinnipiac at Villanova
East Carolina at George Washington
Thursday, March 20
Pacific at Oregon
Cal Poly at San Diego
Southern Utah at Colorado State
Texas Southern at SMU
Butler at South Dakota State
Missouri at Creighton
Marquette at Indiana State
Belmont at Indiana
Ball State at Northwestern
IUPUI at Central Michigan
High Point at Bowling Green
Harvard at Iona
Delaware at Rutgers
VCU at Princeton
American at Seton Hall
Tulane at Mississippi State
Lamar at Southern Miss
Furman at Auburn
Navy at Old Dominion
Stetson at Miami
Friday, March 21
Hawaii at Washington
CSU Bakersfield at Saint Mary's
Arkansas State at UTEP
Stony Brook at Michigan
Mount St. Mary's at Duquesne
Charlotte at St. Bonaventure
North Carolina A&T at South Florida
WBB Postgame Interviews (March 11, 2026)
Friday, March 13
BG WBB : Postgame Interviews 3.7
Saturday, March 07
BG WBB : Toledo Orange Wave Recap 2.21
Monday, February 23
BG WBB : Postgame Interviews 2.21
Saturday, February 21