Women’s basketball makes WNIT Field

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By Dave Fultz

The Illinois women’s basketball team will be heading to the postseason for the 10th time in the last 11 years. The Illini will head to the WNIT for the third straight season and will have a bye in the first round. Illinois will play the winner of the opening round game between the University of Utah and the University of Montana on Monday, Mar. 19 at 7 p.m.

The Illini made a run at the NCAA Tournament this season as they finished fourth in the Big Ten behind three ranked teams and ended the season with an 18-10 overall record, 8-8 in conference play. But their bid for the NCAA Tournament fell short Monday night when they were not announced as part of the 64 team field.

According to a press release, the WNIT will represent each of the nation’s 31 conferences for the first time ever. The field has been expanded to 48 teams in order to accommodate an automatic berth from each conference. Opening round games will start Wednesday with 16 teams getting into action. All of the games in the tournament will be held on the campuses of the participating schools, and game times will be announced Tuesday.