The 2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2017 Women's NCAA tournament . The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 13, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament began on March 15 and ended on April 1, with the championship game televised on the CBS Sports Network .[ 1] In the championship game, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets , 89–79, in triple overtime.[ 2]
Participants
The 2017 Postseason WNIT field consists of 32 automatic invitations – one from each conference – and 32 (or more) at-large teams.[ 3] The intention of the WNIT Selection Committee was to select the best available at-large teams in the nation. A team offered an automatic berth by the WNIT will be the team that is the highest-finishing team in its conference's regular-season standings, and not selected for the NCAA Tournament. A team that fulfills these qualities, and accepts, earned the WNIT automatic berth for its conference, regardless of overall record. The remaining berths in the WNIT were filled by the best teams available. Any team considered for an at-large berth has an overall record of .500 or better.[ 4]
Automatic qualifiers
At-large bids
Bracket
All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4 )
* – Denotes overtime period
Round 1 March 16–17
Round 2 March 18–19
Round 3 March 23
Quarterfinals March 26
Colorado State
80*
Saint Mary's
68
Colorado State
57
Utah
62
UC Davis
58
UC Davis
72
UC Davis
62
BYU
64
Washington State
71
Washington State
72
Washington State
68*
Wyoming
68
Wyoming
67
Seattle
52
Washington State
74
South Dakota
78
Iowa
66
North Dakota
55
South Dakota
73
Iowa
95
Iowa
78
Missouri State
74
Iowa
80
South Dakota State
94
Colorado
62
Northern Illinois
84
South Dakota State
75
Colorado
66
Colorado
81*
UNLV
52
Round 1 March 15–16
Round 2 March 19
Round 3 March 23
Quarterfinals March 26
Tulane
62
Texas-Arlington
57
Tulane
66
Ole Miss
75
Grambling State
49
Grambling State
78
Tulane
64
Alabama
81
Alabama
72
Mercer
57
Alabama
55
Southern Miss
62
Little Rock
53
Little Rock
72
Alabama
66
Middle Tennessee
67
Georgia Tech
76
Morehead State
58
Middle Tennessee
73
Wake Forest
71
Wake Forest
66
Bethune-Cookman
42
Middle Tennessee
57
Georgia Tech
71
Georgia Tech
70
Jacksonville
55
Georgia Tech
63
UCF
73
UCF
51
Stetson
53
Round 1 March 16–17
Round 2 March 18–19
Round 3 March 23
Quarterfinals March 25
Michigan
67
Kent State
60
Michigan
71
Wright State
66
Wright State
66
Central Michigan
64
Michigan
60
New Hampshire
56
St. John's
40
Harvard
69
Harvard
57
St. John's
72
St. John's
62
Sacred Heart
43
Michigan
80
Penn State
74
Virginia Tech
62
Ohio
65
Penn State
70
Georgetown
49
Fordham
51
Fordham
60
Penn State
55
George Washington
51
Virginia Tech
64
Navy
61*
Navy
64
Virginia Tech
76
Virginia Tech
75
Rider
62
Round 1 March 16–17
Round 2 March 19–20
Round 3 March 23
Quarterfinals March 26
Princeton
53
Villanova
59
Villanova
56
Drexel
70
Drexel
51
Duquesne
47
Villanova
69*
James Madison
80
James Madison
67
Radford
59
James Madison
61
Saint Joseph's
56
Virginia
55
Virginia
62
Villanova
69
Indiana
71
Indiana
57
Ball State
58
Indiana
71
Saint Louis
62
Saint Louis
53
IUPUI
57
Indiana
64
Oklahoma State
56
SMU
44
Abilene Christian
66
Abilene Christian
52
SMU
75*
SMU
59
Louisiana Tech
70
Semifinals and Championship Game
Semifinals March 29
Championship Game April 1
Washington State
61
Georgia Tech
69
Georgia Tech
79
Michigan
89 ***
Michigan
65
Villanova
61
All-tournament team
Katelynn Flaherty , Michigan (MVP)
Alex Louin, Villanova
Zaire O'Neil, Georgia Tech
Francesca Pan, Georgia Tech
Alexys Swedlund, Washington State
Hallie Thome, Michigan
Source:[ 5]
See also
References
^ "Postseason WNIT final to air on CBS Sports Network" . Women's NIT . Triple Crown Sports. March 3, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017 .
^ Snyder, Mark (April 2, 2017). "Flaherty, Michigan women nab WNIT crown in 3 OTs" . Battle Creek Enquirer . Detroit Free Press . p. C3. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ "2017 Postseason WNIT Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF) . womensnit.com . Retrieved April 29, 2021 .
^ "Postseason WNIT Sets Dates" . Women's NIT . TripleCrownSports. January 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017 .
^ Koso, Kyle (April 1, 2017). "Michigan outlasts Georgia Tech for 2017 WNIT title" . womensnit.com . Retrieved March 28, 2022 .