Charlotte Women's Basketball In Preseason NIT

Monica League

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Charlotte 49ers women's basketball team is among the 16 schools that will compete in this fall's Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament. The 49ers are set to open play at Georgia Tech Nov. 15.

"It's great to be invited to such a prestigious, nationally recognized tournament so early in this new era of women's basketball at Charlotte," head coach Katie Meier said. "To draw Georgia Tech from the ACC, one of the toughest conferences in the country, is a great opportunity for us and we are really looking forward to participating and hopefully making some noise.

"Just being invited makes a statement for the direction this program is headed. The invitation itself puts an exclamation on the success we had last year and we will hopefully make some noise once it gets started."

Last season, the team's first under Meier, Charlotte went 16-13 and finished the year as one of the most-feared teams in Conference USA. Their 16 wins were the most for the program since the team won 20 in 1991-92. During their run, the 49ers knocked off many of the toughest teams in the league, including regular-season champ TCU, Marquette, DePaul and Memphis.

This season, Charlotte returns four starters and six players, including All-Conference USA selection Alicia Abernathy. They will be joined by a seven-member recruiting class that was ranked 24th nationally by the All-Star Girls report prior to the spring signing period.

The field for the prestigious tournament that kicks off the women's college basketball season includes teams expected to be ranked in the Top 25 such as Kansas State, Penn State, Colorado State and Mississippi State. All games will be played on home campuses, which are determined after each round.

The tournament opens Friday, Nov. 15, with second-round games on Nov. 17, semifinals on Nov. 20, and the championship on Nov. 24.

The event features 12 teams who played in the postseason last season: Kansas State, Colorado State, Penn State, Mississippi State, Syracuse, Bucknell, Ball State, Georgia Tech, San Francisco, Southern Cal, Siena and Southwest Missouri State.

In last year's tournament, top-ranked Connecticut began its undefeated season by winning the Preseason WNIT title with a victory over No.3 Vanderbilt.

This marks the first time Charlotte has been invited to play in the Preseason WNIT. It will also be the first game ever between the 49ers and Yellow Jackets.