WNIT: Michigan to host Stony Brook in round 1 on Friday

Submitted by Raoul on

After five Big Ten teams were selected to the women's NCAA tournament, four more received invitations to the WNIT, including Michigan. The Wolverines (18-13) will host Stony Brook (24-8) of the America East conference in round 1 on Friday at 7 pm. The full bracket is here.

The other three Big Ten teams and most other teams from the Midwest, including CMU and Green Bay (both coached by former U-M head coaches), were put in a different regional than Michigan's. Kim Barnes Arico's team was instead placed into a regional largely composed of teams from the East, perhaps fitting given her roots.

At first glance, the most interesting matchups would come in round 3 or later. Michigan could get a rematch in round 3 with Bowling Green, a team that beat the Wolverines in the season opener 63-52. If U-M makes it to the quarterfinals, they could play future Big Ten foe Rutgers or Seton Hall from the Big East.

This is the fifth-straight year of postseason play for Michigan, which matches the longest such streak in program history (1998-2002 was the previous one). And this will be the Wolverines' sixth WNIT appearance (1999, 2002, 2008, 2010, and 2011 were the previous ones). Their best showing came in 2010 when they made it to the semifinals.

Good luck to the Michigan women as they seek to hang their first banner in Crisler.

Raoul

March 18th, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^

If you're right, that's pretty surprising because Michigan wasn't even among the bubble teams for the NCAA tourney. Just within their "quadrant," Bowling Green and Rutgers were clearly ahead of U-M in terms of having a chance at an NCAA bid.

Of course, the organizers of this tourney (which is not run by the NCAA) are free to set up the bracket any way they wish, and I'm sure they try to maximize potential interesting matchups and game attendance.

EDIT: Sorry, this was supposed to be a reply to steve sharik.

Raoul

March 18th, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^

Game time has now been announced as 7 pm. Ticket info.

Also, in the it's-a-small-world department, Kim Barnes Arico during her appearance on WTKA this morning (podcast) noted that she started her college career at Stony Brook. And she finished her career at Montclair State, where Stony Brook's head coach, Beth O'Boyle, used to coach.