2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament

2024 WBIT
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)
WBIT

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.

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.

[3] 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.

[1] "Event Information". ncaa.com. March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

[2] "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.

[4] "ESPN networks to televise inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament". ncaa.com. September 26, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

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