Tag: WBIT

Furious comeback comes up short as Penn State Lady Lions fall to Villanova in WBIT semifinal

The Penn State women’s basketball team saw its season end with a hard-fought loss to Villanova in the WBIT semifinal round.

Despite a heroic effort by [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag], Penn State was unable to keep its women’s basketball season going for one more game. The Lady Lions fell to Villanova in a seminal matchup in the Women’s Basketball Invitational tournament in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon. Penn State’s 58-53 loss to the Wildcats brought a tough ending to a season in which the program took some big steps forward overall.

Kapinus led the Lady Lions with 18 points in a defensive battle with Villanova. The Wildcats had three players score in double figures for a much more balanced offensive attack, led by a 21-point effort by Lucy Olsen. Kapinus nearly brought Penn State all the way back in the fourth quarter alone, but she received a helping hand from [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] as well. Owusu hit a three-point shot with five seconds remaining in the game to bring the Nittany Lions to within three points.

Villanova outscored Penn State by one point in each of the first two quarters of the semifinal matchup to hold a two-point lead at halftime. The Wildcats created some separation after halftime with a 17-9 advantage on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Penn State chipped away in the fourth quarter and outscored Villanova by five points, but it was just enough of a hole that was too big to climb out of for the Lady Lions.

Penn State’s season ends with a 22-13 record, an improvement of 8 wins from the previous season. ending the season with a loss will be tough to take, but the Lady Lions have improved their win total each of the last few seasons and the program does appear to be heading in a positive direction once again, which should bring some sense of optimism for the 2024-25 season.

Villanova will now get a chance to play for the first WBIT championship in NCAA history. The Wildcats will face the winner of Monday’s other semifinal matchup between Illinois and Washington State. The WBIT championship will be played on Wednesday evening. There is no third-place game.

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Penn State Lady Lions advance in WBIT with win over Belmont

The Penn State Lady Lions are moving on to the quarterfinals of the WBIT after a win on Monday night.

The women’s college basketball season will continue with one final home game for the Penn State Lady Lions. Penn State prevailed over Belmont by a score of 74-66 on Monday evening in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State trailed Belmont by three points at halftime but turned in a strong third quarter to take the lead and held off Belmont in the fourth quarter for the win. [autotag]Makenna Marissa[/autotag] led the Lady Lions with 18 points and [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] added 16 points. [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayla Oden[/autotag] each scored in double figures as well with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Kapinus led the team with 7 rebounds.

Penn State will now host Mississippi State in the quarterfinal round of the WBIT on Thursday evening. A victory over the SEC program would send Penn State to Indianapolis for the semifinal of the postseason tournament. The winner of the Penn State-Mississippi State game will meet the winner of Thursday night’s matchup between Villanova and Saint Joseph’s on Monday, April 1.

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First Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament explained

The first Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament started on March 21 and culminates with a championship weekend right after Easter.

The first Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) started March 21 and culminates with a championship weekend right after Easter. With the 2024 addition of the WBIT, women’s Division I college basketball players have three postseason opportunities to showcase talent: the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), the WBIT and the NCAA Tournament.

The WBIT tournament consists of 32 teams chosen by the WBIT selection committee and is fully owned by the NCAA. The WNIT consists of 48 teams and is privately owned. The NCAA Tournament consists of 68 teams and is also owned by the NCAA.

The WBIT committee comprised five former DI women’s basketball coaches and three current or former Division I athletic administrators. The committee follows a set of rules when selecting the teams, including, but not limited to:

  • Select the best available teams to fill the WBIT field with no limit on the number of teams the committee may select from one conference.
  • A member shall not vote for a team the committee member currently represents as an institutional or conference administrator.
  • The regular-season champion of any NCAA Division I conference (as determined by the conference’s tie-break protocol) not otherwise selected to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will secure an automatic qualification to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.
  • Co-champions who do not receive the declaration of WBIT representative through the conference’s tie-break protocol will not receive automatic qualification and institutions ineligible for postseason play will not receive automatic qualification as a regular-season champion.
  • The first four teams out of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, will receive an automatic bid and will be the top four seeds in the WBIT field.
  • Reclassifying institutions are not eligible to participate in the WBIT.
  • All votes will be by secret ballot.

The first, second and quarterfinal games will be held at campus sites, and the semifinals and championship games will be played at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The top 16 teams will host the first-round games as long as they submit a bid and meet the requirements for hosting.

Preliminary round games can be watched live on ESPN+. The semifinal games will be broadcast on ESPNU, with the title game set for ESPN2.

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Penn State Lady Lions receive no. 1 seed in new WBIT

Lady Lions are one of the four no. 1 seeds in a brand new NCAA postseason basketball tournament.

While it may not have been the ultimate goal for the Penn State women’s basketball team, the Lady Lions are playing in the postseason this year. Penn State was selected to be the top seed in this year’s Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament and will host George Mason in the first round.

Penn State was not selected to play as an at-large team in this year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament following their blowout loss to Iowa in the Big Ten tournament. Penn State was also passed over for a spot in the women’s NIT. So instead, the postseason will continue as the Lady Lions participate in the first-ever WBIT.

The WBIT is sponsored by the NCAA and teams hosting games will not have to foot the bill as they did in the past with the women’s NIT. Penn State is one of four no. 1 seeds in the tournament, joining James Madison, Villanova, and Washington State. Miami was slated to be a no. 1 seed but declined the invitation (James Madison took its place). In all, there are 32 teams in the WBIT. The top 16 teams were seeded by overall performance from the regular season and the remaining 16 teams were placed based on geography as the primary factor. Illinois is the only other Big Ten team in the WBIT this year.

Penn State will host George Mason on Thursday, March 21. Should Penn State win, they will then host the second-round matchup against the winner of a game between Ball State and Belmont. If Penn State should make it to the Final Four of this tournament, they will head to Indianapolis for the semifinals (and potentially the finals) to be played in Hinkle Fieldhouse. If the no. 1 seeds hold, Penn State would face Villanova in the Final Four of the WBIT.

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