2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament
Season | 2023–24 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 32 | ||||
Finals site | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||
Champions | Illinois (1st title) | ||||
Runner-up | Villanova | ||||
Winning coach | Shauna Green (1st title) | ||||
MVP | Makira Cook (Illinois) | ||||
|
The 2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I women's college basketball teams not selected to participate in the 2024 NCAA tournament. The tournament began on March 21 and ended on April 3. The first three rounds were played on campuses, with the semifinal and championship final played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.[1] It was the inaugural edition of the postseason Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. Illinois won the tournament, marking the program's first-ever postseason tournament championship.[2]
Participants
[edit]Teams and pairings for the 2024 WBIT were released by the WBIT Committee on Sunday, March 17, 2024. Thirty–two teams qualified for the WBIT, including both automatic qualifiers and at-large selections.
Automatic qualifiers
[edit]The regular-season champion of any NCAA Division I conference (as determined by the conference's tiebreaking protocol) not otherwise selected for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will, if eligible, secure an automatic qualification invitation to the WBIT.[a] Like the Division I tournament committee, the WBIT Selection Committee will use a variety of resources to determine the participating teams.[3]
Team | Conference | Overall record |
---|---|---|
Hawaii | Big West | 20–10 |
Lamar | Southland | 24–6 |
Tulsa | American | 23–9 |
High Point | Big South | 20–11 |
Stony Brook | CAA | 27–4 |
Cleveland State | Horizon | 29–5 |
Toledo | MAC | 26–5 |
At-large bids
[edit]The following teams were awarded at-large bids.
Team | Conference | Overall record |
---|---|---|
George Mason | Atlantic 10 | 23–7 |
VCU | Atlantic 10 | 26–5 |
Saint Joseph's | Atlantic 10 | 26–5 |
Georgia Tech | ACC | 17–15 |
Virginia | ACC | 15–15 |
North Texas | American | 23–8 |
TCU | Big 12 | 20–11 |
BYU | Big 12 | 16–16 |
St. John's | Big East | 17–14 |
Villanova | Big East | 18–12 |
Georgetown | Big East | 22–11 |
Seton Hall | Big East | 17–14 |
Penn State | Big Ten | 19–12 |
Illinois | Big Ten | 14–15 |
Ball State | MAC | 28–5 |
Belmont | MVC | 25–8 |
Missouri State | MVC | 23–9 |
California | Pac-12 | 18–14 |
Washington State | Pac-12 | 18–14 |
Washington | Pac-12 | 16–14 |
Mississippi State | SEC | 21–11 |
Arkansas | SEC | 18–14 |
Florida | SEC | 16–15 |
James Madison | Sun Belt | 23–11 |
Santa Clara | WCC | 24–8 |
Declined bids
[edit]Miami (FL) declined to play in the 2024 WBIT.
Bracket
[edit]First round March 21 Campus sites | Second round March 24 Campus sites | Quarterfinal March 28 | ||||||||||||
1 | James Madison | 70 | ||||||||||||
Stony Brook | 81 | |||||||||||||
Stony Brook | 62 | |||||||||||||
4 | Illinois | 79 | ||||||||||||
4 | Illinois | 74 | ||||||||||||
Missouri State | 69 | |||||||||||||
4 | Illinois | 69 | ||||||||||||
3 | Tulsa | 61 | ||||||||||||
3 | Tulsa | 80 | ||||||||||||
Arkansas | 62 | |||||||||||||
3 | Tulsa | 73 | ||||||||||||
Georgetown | 61 | |||||||||||||
2 | Washington | 56 | ||||||||||||
Georgetown | 64 |
First round March 21 Campus sites | Second round March 24 Campus sites | Quarterfinal March 28 | ||||||||||||
1 | Washington State | 66 | ||||||||||||
Lamar | 46 | |||||||||||||
1 | Washington State | 73 | ||||||||||||
4 | Santa Clara | 47 | ||||||||||||
4 | Santa Clara | 60 | ||||||||||||
BYU | 59 | |||||||||||||
1 | Washington State | 63 | ||||||||||||
2 | Toledo | 61 | ||||||||||||
3 | Florida | 60 | ||||||||||||
St. John's | 79 | |||||||||||||
St John's | 71 | |||||||||||||
2 | Toledo | 72 | ||||||||||||
2 | Toledo | 76 | ||||||||||||
Cleveland State | 68 |
First round March 21 Campus sites | Second round March 24 Campus sites | Quarterfinal March 28 | ||||||||||||
1 | Villanova | 75 | ||||||||||||
VCU | 60 | |||||||||||||
1 | Villanova | 73 | ||||||||||||
4 | Virginia | 55 | ||||||||||||
4 | Virginia | 81 | ||||||||||||
High Point | 59 | |||||||||||||
1 | Villanova | 67 | ||||||||||||
3 | Saint Joseph's | 59 | ||||||||||||
3 | Saint Joseph's | 54 | ||||||||||||
Seton Hall | 47 | |||||||||||||
3 | Saint Joseph's | 63 | ||||||||||||
2 | California | 61 | ||||||||||||
2 | California | 65 | ||||||||||||
Hawaii | 60 |
First round March 21 Campus sites | Second round March 24 Campus sites | Quarterfinal March 28 | ||||||||||||
1 | Penn State | 84* | ||||||||||||
George Mason | 80 | |||||||||||||
1 | Penn State | 74 | ||||||||||||
Belmont | 66 | |||||||||||||
4 | Ball State | 59 | ||||||||||||
Belmont | 77 | |||||||||||||
1 | Penn State | 92 | ||||||||||||
2 | Mississippi State | 87 | ||||||||||||
3 | TCU | 67 | ||||||||||||
North Texas | 58 | |||||||||||||
3 | TCU | 61 | ||||||||||||
2 | Mississippi State | 68 | ||||||||||||
2 | Mississippi State | 84 | ||||||||||||
Georgia Tech | 47 |
Semifinals April 1 Hinkle Fieldhouse | Final April 3 Hinkle Fieldhouse | ||||||||
4 | Illinois | 81 | |||||||
1 | Washington State | 58 | |||||||
4 | Illinois | 71 | |||||||
1 | Villanova | 57 | |||||||
1 | Villanova | 58 | |||||||
1 | Penn State | 53 |
* Denotes overtime period
Media
[edit]ESPN Inc. had exclusive rights to all WBIT games. It telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN+. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.
See also
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ The regular-season and tournament champion of the Ohio Valley Conference, Southern Indiana, was not eligible for either the NCAA tournament or WBIT due to being in transition from NCAA Division II.
References
[edit]- ^ "Event Information". ncaa.com. March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
- ^ "Makira Cook's strong 2nd half leads Illinois past Villanova 71-57 for inaugural WBIT championship". Associated Press. April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
- ^ "ESPN networks to televise inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament". ncaa.com. September 26, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.