Three #HLWBB Teams to Compete in WNIT

March 12

Three Horizon League Women's Basketball teams will compete in the WNIT, beginning this Thursday. IUPUI will host Purdue while Milwaukee travels to Northern Iowa on Thursday. Wright State will head to Toledo on Friday. Game times will be announced on Tuesday. Click here to view full WNIT bracket.

Jags to Host Purdue in WNIT First Round Thursday
INDIANAPOLIS - (Courtesy of IUPUIJags.com) IUPUI will host Purdue in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament on Thursday, March 15. The time of the game will be announced on Tuesday (March 13).

The Jags earned an automatic qualifier spot after finishing second in the Horizon League this season with a 13-5 league record. IUPUI will take on an 18-13 Purdue team that earned an at-large bid in to the tournament.

Tickets for the game against Purdue will be sold at the door beginning one hour before tipoff. Ages 13 and up wil be $10 per ticket while ages 3-12 will be $5 per ticket. IUPUI students with a Crimson Card will get free admission.

This is the third-straight year that the Jags have made the WNIT and the fifth time in the last six seasons. It is only the second time that the Jags will have hosted a WNIT game, the first time being against San Diego in 2016.

Raiders Draw Toledo in WNIT
DAYTON, OHIO (Courtesy of WSURaiders.com) - The Wright State women's basketball team received its fourth straight bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament Monday night and will play at Toledo on Friday. Time will be announced Tuesday.

The Raiders, 23-10, played at Toledo in the first round of the 2015 WNIT, falling 72-64. The Rockets are currently 17-14 on the season and are riding a four-game losing streak, including a first round MAC Tournament game to Kent State 80-76 in overtime.

Wright State has been led by Horizon League Player of the Year Chelsea Welch, who has averaged 21.2 points per game. Junior Emily Vogelphl, a member of the HL Defensive Team, has averaged 10.7 points and 6.6 rebounds while Taylor Mackenzie, named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team, has averaged 11.4 points.

Panthers Headed Back to WNIT, Will Play Northern Iowa Thursday
MILWAUKEE, WIS.(Courtesy of MKEPanthers.com) - For the third consecutive season, the Milwaukee women's basketball team has earned the right to play in a postseason tournament.

UWM – which won 20 games for just the fourth time in program history and the first time in back-to-back seasons – accepted an at-large bid to the WNIT and will play UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa Thursday.

The WNIT berth is the second in the last three years for Milwaukee, who has now made a postseason tournament each of the last three years.

"We are thrilled to be headed back to the postseason and to the WNIT," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I think most people know about our great group of seniors and what they've done here, and now we get to make another postseason run with them.

"This is also a tribute to the Horizon League. To have three members of our conference in the WNIT – and five total in the postseason – is no short order. It shows just how strong and how deep this league was this year and we're excited to use that experience heading into this tournament."

Milwaukee turned in an impressive resume to earn this year's berth, posting two road wins over the Big Ten (Northwestern and Wisconsin), five wins over schools ranked in the Mid-Major Top-25 this season (at Western Illinois, at IUPUI, Cleveland State [twice] and Wright State) and a win over CSUN, who qualified for this year's NCAA Tournament.

Northern Iowa enters postseason play with a 19-13 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Missouri Valley. They advanced to the MVC Conference Tournament Championship before falling to Drake, 75-63.

UWM and UNI have met eight times, but not back in December of 2010 in Milwaukee.

The winner of Thursday's game will go up against the winner of Indiana and UT Martin. That second-round contest would take place sometime between March 17-20.

Tickets for Thursday's opening round contest will go on sale Tuesday, March 13 at 8:30 am through the UNI Athletics Ticket Office. They can be reached by phone at 319-273-4849 or online at www.unipanthers.com/tickets.