Lady Frogs to host Radford in Preseason WNIT
6/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
June 13, 2007
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - After being selected into the field of the 2007 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) for the second time in school history and first since 1999, the TCU women's basketball team learned on Wednesday that it is one of eight schools that will host a first round game.
The Lady Frogs, who are coming off their seventh straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, will open the preseason WNIT on Friday, Nov. 9 against Radford at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The time of the game and ticket information will be announced at a later date.
Along with TCU, Delaware, Evansville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Western Kentucky will also host first round games in the 16-team tournament.
This past season, Radford posted a 20-10 overall record and finished second in the Big South Conference with a league mark of 10-4. Coached by Jeri Porter, the Highlanders return their top three scorers and rebounders from last year. Radford is led by senior-to-be Kelli Darden, who was the Big South Defensive Player of the Year and was a First Team All-Big South selection after leading the team with an average of 13.1 points and tallying 85 blocks.
The winner of the TCU-Radford game will play the winner of the LSU-Samford game in the second round.
In what has traditionally been a single-elimination tournament, the event will change format beginning in 2007 with each team guaranteed of playing a minimum of three games. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 16-17.
Second-round games will be played on Nov. 11-13, semifinals will be on Nov. 14-15 and the championship is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 18. All games are played on home campuses, which are determined after each round.
The field for the 2007 tournament includes nine teams that played in the postseason last season. Delaware, Delaware State, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Notre Dame and TCU each played in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, while East Tennessee State and Western Kentucky played in the Postseason WNIT in 2007. Rounding out the field of 16 are Evansville, IUPUI, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Princeton, Radford and Samford.
TCU last played in the Preseason WNIT in 1999 when the Lady Frogs advanced to the second round. TCU opened the tournament with a 62-51 victory over St. Mary's (Calif.) at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. In the second round, the Frogs fell on the road at UCSB 86-61.
At the 2006 Preseason WNIT, Purdue defeated Baylor 69-55 in the championship game.
2007 WNIT (2006-07 records in parentheses)
First-round Preseason WNIT games
Game Times TBA
Friday, Nov. 9, 2007
Princeton (13-15) at Maryland (28-6)
Delaware State (20-13) at Delaware (26-6)
ETSU (20-12) at Western Kentucky (23-9)
Miami, Ohio (12-18) at Notre Dame (20-12)
Samford (18-13) at LSU (30-8)
Radford (20-10) at TCU (21-11)
Marshall (15-15) at Evansville (19-12)
IUPUI (14-16) at Michigan State (24-9)
