Preseason WNIT Bracket
Eastern Illinois women’s basketball has been selected as the Ohio Valley Conference representative to open the upcoming 2009-10 campaign in the Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
The Panthers are guaranteed of three Preseason WNIT games and will play at Ohio State on Nov. 13 in the first round. The winner advances to play the victor of the Bowling Green-Chicago State quarterfinal matchup.
The 2009 Preseason WNIT is a three-game guarantee format involving 16 teams from 16 different conferences that were included by invitation-only. All games are hosted by participating schools. The initial round of the event will involve eight sites hosted by participating institutions.
Eastern finished its 2008-09 season with a 24-9 overall record, reaching the OVC Tournament title game for the second year in a row. The Panthers’ 24 overall victories were the most of any team in the country not invited to a national postseason tournament. Murray State earned the league’s automatic bid to the Postseason WNIT after winning the OVC regular-season title. Austin Peay represented the league at the NCAA Tournament after beating three higher-seeded opponents on its way to winning the OVC Tournament.
Samford was the last OVC team, in 2007-08, to play in the Preseason WNIT. All of Samford’s athletic programs moved to the Southern Conference at the end of that school year. The Bulldogs dropped their first game of the Preseason WNIT at fifth-ranked LSU and were selected to host a consolation pod at their then brand new Pete Hanna Center.