The Illinois State women’s basketball team will continue its season this week as the Redbirds have been selected to participate in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), as announced by the tournament organizers on March 15.
The Redbirds have been placed in the Memphis Region and will open tournament play with Tulane at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 19. ISU will play either Ole Miss or Samford on Saturday, March 20. Stay tuned to GoRedbirds.com for the latest updates on opponents/game times.
All WNIT games will be streamed online by FloHoops. There will be limited player guests in attendance, and tickets will not be available to purchase for the general public.
The 2021 WNIT features 32 teams with eight teams at each of the four WNIT regional sites: Charlotte, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Rockford. Every team is guaranteed two games, with an eight-team championship bracket and a four-team consolation bracket at each location. Round 1 play is March 19 and the Round 2 winners and consolation bracket games at each regional are on March 20. Round 3 games (the regional finals and consolation finals) are set for March 22.
The four regional champions will advance to the semifinals the following weekend in Memphis,. with the two semifinal games set for March 26 and the championship for March 28.
This marks the 13th WNIT appearance for Illinois State, which is 20-18 all-time in the tournament, and the first postseason appearance for the Redbirds since the 2012-13 season when ISU advanced to the second round of the WNIT. This is also the first postseason appearance for head coach Kristen Gillespie at the NCAA DI level.
For all the latest on Illinois State women’s basketball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdWBB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
