Despite just missing the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row, the Kamie Ethridge era continues to bring postseason opportunities built on consistent regular season performance.
The WSU women’s basketball team was invited to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament Sunday before being awarded a bye round two as the bracket was revealed Monday morning. The WNIT berth marks the fifth consecutive postseason tournament appearance for the program coming off the heels of a third straight 20-win season.
The Cougars’ season came to a disappointing end in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Championship, falling 72-57 to the Portland Pilots. WSU held a 9-point lead at halftime but were outscored 26-7 in the third quarter as Portland took control and advanced to the championship game. The Cougs gave up a prime opportunity to win the conference and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as WSU would have played Oregon State, a team the Cougs beat twice in the regular season. Instead, after the Beavers’ stunning upset of Gonzaga in the semifinals, OSU took care of business against Portland to go dancing in March despite being underdogs.
A year after a phenomenal run in the NCAA-led Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament that saw the Cougs finish as runner-ups after a losing to Illinois in the championship game, WSU now returns to the WNIT. The Cougs last competed in the WNIT in 2017 when it lost to Georgia Tech in the semifinals.
The WNIT is a 48-team invitational tournament that serves as an alternative postseason option for teams that did not make the cut for March Madness. Teams that were the highest regular-season finishers in their conferences and were not invited or selected for the NCAA or WBIT tournaments are given automatic qualification to the WNIT. At-large berths are awarded to programs that meet a variety of criteria, including havign a record of .500 or better. To make room for more mid-major conferences and because OSU made it to the Big Dance and Gonzaga and Portland both made the WBIT, WSU was awarded an at-large bid for the WNIT.
The WNIT reduced its field from 64 to 48 teams in 2024 after the creation of the WBIT, an NCAA initiative to increase postseason opportunities for women’s college basketball. Both tournaments include a variety of quality teams, many of whom were on the NCAA tournament bubble, but the WBIT has seemed to gain the priority for quality of competition due to its affiliation with the NCAA. The WNIT is run by Triple Crown Sports, an event management company based in Fort Collins, Colo.
The Cougs will face the winner of Air Force and Utah Valley, two at-large teams, in the second round between March 23-25. The Cougs will likely host the second round, as home teams are typically the stronger opponent and the larger school. The WNIT championship will be played on April 5 on CBS Sports Network while all other WNIT games will air on Triple Crown Sports Network.
