June 28, 2006 – The 16-team field for the 2006 Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament was announced today.<br /><br />The field for the prestigious women’s college basketball tournament includes 11 teams that played in the postseason last season.&nbsp; Baylor, BYU, Dartmouth, Hartford, North Carolina State, Purdue, St. John’s and Stanford played in the NCAA Tournament, and Belmont, Hofstra and Idaho State qualified for the Postseason WNIT field.&nbsp; They will be joined by High Point, Iona, Loyola-Marymount, North Texas and Wichita State in this fall’s Preseason WNIT.<br /><br />The single-elimination tournament opens Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played on Nov. 12-13, semifinals on Nov. 15-16 and the championship is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 19.&nbsp; All games are played on home campuses, which are determined after each round.<br /><br />In last year’s Preseason WNIT, Connecticut defeated Oklahoma and went on to a 32-5 season, advancing to the NCAA’s Elite Eight round.<br /><br />First-round games:<br />All 2005-2006 team records in parentheses<br />Thursday, Nov. 9<br />Belmont (22-8) at Purdue (26-7), 7 p.m. ET<br />Iona (17-12) at St. John’s (22-8), 7 p.m. ET<br />High Point (20-10) at N.C. State (19-12), 7 p.m. ET<br />Loyola-Marymount (17-12) at Stanford (26-8), 7 p.m. PT<br /><br />Friday, Nov. 10<br />Dartmouth (23-7) at Hartford (27-4), 7 p.m. ET<br />North Texas (19-8) at Baylor (26-7), 7 p.m. CT<br />Hofstra (19-12) at Wichita State (15-13), 7 p.m. CT<br />Idaho State (17-13) at BYU (26-6), 7 p.m. MT

I am happy for the ladies.&nbsp; I wouldn&#039;t mind seeing some postseason play to match the preseason invite.&nbsp;

It&#039;s deinitely a good thing for the Ladies program, even if the ink doesn&#039;t match the Men&#039;s Pre-season NIT.&nbsp; I&#039;m really not sure how the squad will be this year, as we lost a huge portion of our team from last year.