July 6, 2005

DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's basketball team is one of 16 teams that have been selected to participate in the 2005 Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament , as announced by the organization on Wednesday. The Mustangs will host Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday, Nov. 11 at Moody Coliseum.

SMU will be making its second preseason WNIT appearance and represent Conference USA. SMU's previous preseason WNIT appearance took place on Nov. 15, 1996, as the Mustangs fell to Kansas, 77-66, in Lawrence, Kan. Louisiana-Lafayette recorded a 22-9 mark last season and lost to Middle Tennessee, 67-52, in the title game of the 2005 Sun Belt Championship.

SMU posted a 19-11 record at the conclusion of the 2004-05 season and earned a post-season bid to the WNIT. The Mustangs lost to eventual WNIT champion Southwest Missouri State in first-round action. SMU returns all five starters and nine letterwinners from last year, including All-America candidate sophomore post Janielle Dodds.

In addition to SMU, the field for the prestigious tournament that kicks off the women's college basketball season includes eight additional teams that participated in postseason play last year: Boston College, Chattanooga, Connecticut, Indiana State, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts, and Richmond.

The tournament opens Nov. 11, with second-round games on Nov. 13 and 14, semifinals on Nov. 16-17, and the championship on Sunday, Nov. 20. All games will be played on home campuses, which are determined after each round.

Following are this year's pairings. Visit www.womensnit.com for a bracket and history of the event. First-round games (all game times to be determined at a later date):

Friday, Nov. 11

Drexel at Boston College

Hampton at Richmond

Chattanooga at Indiana State

Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Oklahoma

Louisiana-Lafayette at SMU

Eastern Washington at California

Oral Roberts at New Mexico

Saturday, Nov. 12

Marist at Connecticut