2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament

The 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament is a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2015 Women's NCAA Tournament. The annual tournament began on March 18 and will end on April 4, with the championship game televised on CBS Sports Network.^[1] All games will be played on the campus sites of participating schools. The Tournament was won by the UCLA Bruins who defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers 62-60 in the final before a crowd of 8,403 at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, WV on April 4.^[2] It was UCLA's first WNIT title. UCLA's Jordin Canada was the tournament's most valuable player.^[3]

Participants

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2015 WNIT. Thirty-two teams received automatic berths into the tournament from being the highest-ranked team in their conference that failed to make the NCAA Women's Tournament. The other 32 teams earned at-large bids, by having a winning record but failing to make the NCAA Women's Tournament. If a conference’s automatic qualifier declines the WNIT invitation, the conference forfeits that automatic spot, and that selection goes into the pool of at-large schools.^[4]

Automatic qualifiers Conference School America East Maine American Tulsa Atlantic 10 Duquesne ACC Virginia Atlantic Sun Stetson Big 12 TCU Big East Villanova Big Sky Sacramento State Big South Radford Big Ten Michigan Big West Hawai'i Colonial Drexel C-USA Middle Tennessee Horizon Wright State Ivy League Penn MAAC Marist MAC Ball State MEAC Hampton Missouri Valley Drake Mountain West Colorado State Northeast Central Connecticut Ohio Valley Tennessee–Martin Pac-12 UCLA Patriot Army SEC Missouri Southern East Tennessee State Southland Stephen F. Austin SWAC Texas Southern Summit South Dakota Sun Belt Arkansas State WCC San Diego WAC Cal State Bakersfield

At-large bids Conference School MAC Akron MAC Buffalo Horizon Cleveland State Big East Creighton American East Carolina MAC Eastern Michigan Big Sky Eastern Washington Colonial Elon Atlantic 10 Fordham Mountain West Fresno State ACC Georgia Tech Colonial Hofstra Big 12 Kansas State Big West Long Beach State MVC Missouri State ACC NC State Big Sky Northern Colorado MVC Northern Iowa C-USA Old Dominion SEC Ole Miss WCC Pacific Atlantic 10 Richmond WCC Saint Mary's WCC San Francisco C-USA Southern Miss Big East St. John's American Temple MAC Toledo Pac-12 Washington State Big 12 West Virginia MAC Toledo Horizon Youngstown State

Bracket

West Region

	Round 1 March 18–20				Round 2 March 22–24				Round 3 March 25–27				Quarterfinals March 28–30
	Washington State	66
	Eastern Washington	67
					Eastern Washington	49
					Sacramento State	84
	Pacific	79
	Sacramento State	83
									Sacramento State	69
									St. Mary's (CA)	77
	Fresno State	79
	San Francisco	73
					Fresno State	64
					St. Mary's (CA)	83
	St. Mary's (CA)	92*
	Hawai'i	88
													St. Mary's (CA)	66
													UCLA	82
	Colorado State	48
	Northern Colorado	53
					Northern Colorado	59
					South Dakota	58
	South Dakota	68
	Creighton	58
									Northern Colorado	60
									UCLA	74
	UCLA	70
	CS Bakersfield	54
					UCLA	63
					San Diego	58
	San Diego	63
	Long Beach State	58

Midwest Region

	Round 1 March 18–20				Round 2 March 22–24				Round 3 March 25–27				Quarterfinals March 28–30
	Michigan	72
	Cleveland State	50
					Michigan	74
					Toledo	58
	Toledo	72
	Wright State	64
									Michigan	65
									Missouri	55
	Kansas State	86
	Akron	68
					Kansas State	48
					Missouri	67
	Northern Iowa	61
	Missouri	69
													Michigan	69
													Southern Mississippi	60
	Drake	70
	Eastern Michigan	80
					Eastern Michigan	69
					Tulsa	59
	Missouri State	72
	Tulsa	78
									Eastern Michigan	65
									Southern Mississippi	76
	Southern Mississippi	79
	Texas Southern	69
					Southern Mississippi	77*
					Texas Christian	73
	Texas Christian	85
	Stephen F. Austin	80

* - Denotes overtime

South Region

	Round 1 March 18–20				Round 2 March 22–24				Round 3 March 25–27				Quarterfinals March 28–30
	Middle Tennessee St.	69
	Ball State	58
					Middle Tennessee St.	70
					Arkansas State	60
	Arkansas State	61
	Western Michigan	49
									Middle Tennessee St.	82
									Ole Miss	70
	Georgia Tech	69
	Elon	47
					Georgia Tech	48
					Ole Miss	63
	Ole Miss	80
	Tennessee-Martin	70
													Middle Tennessee State	57
													Temple	69
	Marist	54
	Temple	67
					Temple	61
					Pennsylvania	56
	Pennsylvania	65
	Hofstra	58
									Temple	80*
									North Carolina State	79
	East Carolina	74
	Radford	52
					East Carolina	65
					North Carolina State	69
	East Tennessee State	58
	North Carolina State	73

* - Denotes overtime

East Region

	Round 1 March 18–20				Round 2 March 22–24				Round 3 March 25–27				Quarterfinals March 28–30
	Youngstown State	54
	Duquesne	72
					Duquesne	48
					Richmond	47
	Stetson	66
	Richmond	67
									Duquesne	39
									West Virginia	60
	West Virginia	84
	Buffalo	61
					West Virginia	57
					Hampton	39
	Drexel	42
	Hampton	45
													West Virginia	75*
													Villanova	70
	Fordham	70
	Central Connecticut State	67
					Fordham	63
					St. John's	77
	St. John's	64
	Army	56
									St. John's	55
									Villanova	63
	Villanova	71
	Maine	60
					Villanova	71
					Old Dominion	66
	Old Dominion	69
	Virginia	62

* - Denotes overtime

WNIT Semifinals and WNIT Championship Game

	Semifinals April 1					Championship Game April 4 CBSSN
	UCLA		69
	Michigan		65
						UCLA		62
						West Virginia		60
	Temple		58
	West Virginia		66*

* - Denotes overtime

Championship Game was played at Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia.

See also

• 2015 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 2015 Women's Basketball Invitational
• 2015 National Invitation Tournament

References

1. "CBS SN to Televise WNIT Championship Game". Womens NIT. Triple Crown Sports. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
2. "Charleston to host WVU and UCLA Saturday in WNIT finals". Charleston Gazette. Charleston Gazette. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
3. "UCLA beats WVU 62-60 for WNIT title". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
4. "WNIT Current field". WNIT.

External links

• Women's NIT