The 2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 48 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The 40th annual tournament was played from March 19, 2008, to April 5, 2008, entirely on campus sites. The highest ranked team in each conference that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament received an automatic bid to this tournament. The remaining slots were filled by the WNIT Selection Committee. Marquette defeated Michigan State, 81–66, to win the tournament.[1]
| Teams | 48 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, Michigan | ||||
| Champions | Marquette (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Michigan State (1st title game) | ||||
| Winning coach | Terri Mitchell (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Krystal Ellis (Marquette) | ||||
| Attendance | 7,818 (championship game) | ||||
| |||||
Seeding edit
Teams are not seeded in the WNIT. Rather, teams are placed into one of three tiers. Teams in the upper tier are spread around the bracket as best as possible, although not every upper tier team receives a first round bye. Lower tier and middle tier teams tend to meet in the first round, while upper tier teams will usually play winners of first-round games in the second round. The organizers attempt to bracket the first two rounds based on geography. The location of games is determined in part by seed, but also by facility availability and other factors.[2][3]
Bracket edit
Section 1 edit
| Round 1 March 19–22 | Round 2 March 22–25 | Round 3 March 26–28 | Quarterfinals March 29–31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech* | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas State | 49 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Prairie View A&M | 83 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas State* | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech* | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TCU* | 85 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho State | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State* | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 90 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado* | 96† | ||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado* | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gonzaga | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gonzaga* | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado* | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin* | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| American | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Villanova* | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: Asterisk denotes home team. † denotes overtime.
Section 2 edit
| Round 1 March 19–22 | Round 2 March 21–25 | Round 3 March 26–28 | Quarterfinals March 29–31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Marquette* | 75† | ||||||||||||||||||
| Creighton | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Creighton | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota State* | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marquette* | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois* | 48 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Drake | 44 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin-Green Bay | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Drake* | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marquette | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky* | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky* | 68† | ||||||||||||||||||
| Middle Tennessee | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Western Carolina | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Middle Tennessee* | 104 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky* | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||
| James Madison | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana* | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| James Madison | 86† | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radford | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||
| James Madison* | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: Asterisk denotes home team. † denotes overtime.
Section 3 edit
| Round 1 March 19–22 | Round 2 March 22–25 | Round 3 March 26–28 | Quarterfinals March 29–31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Michigan* | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||
| VCU | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||
| VCU | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Charlotte* | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan* | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss | 45 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss* | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas-Little Rock | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss* | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 40 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State* | 45† | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas* | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Evansville | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southeast Missouri State | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Evansville* | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State* | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State* | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dayton | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green* | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: Asterisk denotes home team. † denotes overtime.
Section 4 edit
| Round 1 March 19–22 | Round 2 March 22–25 | Round 3 March 26–28 | Quarterfinals March 29–31 | ||||||||||||||||
| St. John's* | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Iona | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Iona | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac* | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. John's* | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College* | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vermont | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vermont* | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. John's | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||
| NC State* | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| NC State* | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina A&T | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina* | 102 | ||||||||||||||||||
| NC State* | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | 55 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Florida* | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Gulf Coast | 55 | ||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Gulf Coast* | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: Asterisk denotes home team
Semifinals and finals edit
| Semifinals April 2 | Finals April 5 | ||||||||
| Colorado* | 72 | ||||||||
| Marquette | 86 | ||||||||
| Marquette | 81 | ||||||||
| Michigan State* | 66 | ||||||||
| Michigan State* | 58 | ||||||||
| NC State | 57 | ||||||||
Note: Asterisk denotes home team
All-tournament team edit
- Krystal Ellis, Marquette (MVP)
- Angel Robinson, Marquette
- Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State
- Kalisha Keane, Michigan State
- Khadijah Washington, NC State
- Jackie McFarland, Colorado
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Marquette Claims WNIT Title With 81-66 Win Over Michigan State". Marquette University Athletics. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ "Postseason WNIT". Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ "2008 Postseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Solari, Chris (April 6, 2008). "Spartans stumble in WNIT title game". Lansing State Journal. p. 1C. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Solari, Chris (April 6, 2008). "MSU: 'We ran into a buzzsaw'". Lansing State Journal. p. 4C. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Post-game Notes". gomarquette.com. April 5, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- ^ "2021–22 NC State Women's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). GoPack.com. North Carolina State University. 2021. p. 93. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ^ "2007–08 Big 12 Women's Basketball – 2007–08 Season Final Release" (PDF). Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. 2008. p. 9. Retrieved May 30, 2022.