Marquette and Saint Louis have been chosen to participate in the 2003 Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Marquette will play Toledo, while Saint Louis will visit Iowa. The Golden Eagles are back in postseason play for the first time since receiving an at-large bid to the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Saint Louis is making the first postseason appearance in school history.

The Golden Eagles (15-13) will play on Thursday, March 20 at Toledo. Game time has yet to be announced. Toledo, the regular season champion of the Mid-American Conference, sits at 20-9 after falling in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. Marquette will face a Rockets team that was 12-1 at home this season. However, Marquette posted a 10-6 record away from Milwaukee this season.

This is the eighth post-season bid for the Golden Eagles, the fifth under head coach Terri Mitchell. This is MU’s second appearance in the WNIT. Marquette last played in the National Women’s Invitation Tournament in the 1992-93 season. The Golden Eagles were 1-2 in that event when it was an eight-team field that was played in Amarillo, Texas.

The Billikens (17-13) visit Iowa on Thursday, March 20 for a 7:00 p.m. game. SLU has recorded its highest victory total in eight seasons under head coach Jill Pizzotti, finishing with 17 wins. The school record for victories in a season is 18, set in 1978-79 and duplicated in 1979-80. SLU won a school-record eight league games this season, breaking the previous high of six.

Iowa was 16-14 this season and posted a 6-10 mark in the Big Ten. This will be the first meeting between the schools.

The winner of the Marquette-Toledo game will face the winner of the Saint Louis-Iowa matchup in the second round on March 22nd, 23rd or 24th. All rounds of play in the 32-team field are played at campus sites. The championship game will be played on April 2nd, 3rd or 4th.


2003 WNIT PAIRINGS
Thursday, March 20
First Round
Marquette at Toledo

Thursday, March 20
First Round
Saint Louis at Iowa