Three Conference USA schools will take part in the 2005 Sportsview.tv Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Charlotte, Marquette and USF will each participate in the 32-team field, which opens play on Wednesday. Charlotte and USF are each participating in the WNIT for the second consecutive season. The three WNIT teams gives C-USA a total of seven women’s basketball teams in postseason play.

Marquette will host Nebraska in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday, March 17 at the Al McGuire Center. A game time has not been set for the first-ever meeting between the schools. The Golden Eagles enter the game with an overall record of 18-11 and were the only C-USA team to defeat No. 16 DePaul during regular season conference play. Nebraska has an overall record of 17-13 and finished with an 8-8 record in the Big 12 Conference. Marquette will be making its third WNIT appearance, including a second-round showing in 2003.

Should the Golden Eagles advance, they would play the winner of Friday night’s Creighton-Iowa game.

Charlotte will be making its third consecutive postseason appearance. The 49ers, who enter the WNIT with a 22-8 overall record, will play at Wake Forest (15-14, 3-11 in ACC) on Friday night. This is the second year in a row that Charlotte has opened WNIT play at an ACC school, as the Niners won at Clemson last year, 78-71.

USF (20-10), which has set a school record for victories, will be making its second consecutive WNIT appearance after playing in postseason for the first time in last year’s WNIT. The Bulls will host their first-ever postseason game when in-state rival Florida (14-14, 5-9 in SEC) visits on Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m. ET. USF will be playing the Gators for the second time this season, as Florida posted a 58-50 victory on Jan. 2 in Gainesville.

The winner of the Charlotte-Wake Forest contest will face the winner of the USF-Florida matchup in the second round.

In addition to the three current members playing in this year’s WNIT, two future members of C-USA will also be participating in the event. Tulsa (19-10) will make its second straight WNIT appearance when it visits Texas A&M on Wednesday. SMU (19-10) has also earned a spot and will visit Southwest Missouri State on Thursday.

All rounds of play in the 32-team field are played at campus sites. Second Round play takes place from March 20-22 and quarterfinal action is set for March 23-24. The championship game will be played on March 29, 30 or April 1.


2005 WNIT PAIRINGS

Thursday, March 17
First Round
Nebraska at Marquette, TBA

First Round
Florida at USF, 7:00 p.m. EST

Friday, March 18
First Round
Charlotte at Wake Forest, TBA


OTHER FIRST ROUND WNIT MATCHUPS
Tulsa at Texas A&M, 5pm 3/16
Fresno State at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 3/18
SMU at Southwest Missouri State, 3/17
BYU at Gonzaga, 3/16
UNLV at Arkansas, 3/18
Mississippi State at Arkansas State, 3/17
Creighton at Iowa, 3/18
Illinois at Indiana State, 3/16
Xavier at Western Kentucky, 3/16
E. Michigan at Kentucky, 3/18
Villanova at Chattanooga, 3/18
St. John's at Delaware, 3/17
Maine at W. Virginia, 3/18