TicketsBearcats to Play in Preseason WNIT
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
6/26/2003
CINCINNATI, Ohio ? The University of Cincinnati women?s basketball team will host a first round game in the 2003 Preseason Women?s National Invitational Tournament.
The Bearcats will take on Liberty on Friday, November 14 in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. UC last appeared in the preseason WNIT in 1998, when the Bearcats fell to Indiana, 61-51, in the first round.
?We are both honored and excited to have been chosen to host the first round of the WNIT,? said head coach Laurie Pirtle. ?There are tremendous teams in this year's field and Liberty will be a great opponent for us. We hope that we can build on the excitement of hosting the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA tournament and women's basketball fans will again get to enjoy the tournament atmosphere here in Cincinnati.?
The 2003 season marks the 10th year of the preseason WNIT, which features 16 of the top teams in the nation in a single-elimination tournament. All games are played at home campuses with sites determined after each round. The winner of UC?s games will play the winner of Miami (O.) at Michigan on Monday, Nov. 17.
The Bearcats return three starters, including first team All-Conference USA honorees Valerie King and Debbie Merrill, from last year?s 23-8 squad which made UC?s second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth-straight postseason appearance.
The Flames went 26-4 last season, claiming the Big South regular season and tournament titles and winning 22-straight games before falling to Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Further information, including a complete season schedule and ticket information, will be released at a later date.
Preseason WNIT First-round games (Nov. 14 and 15, 2003):
Texas-San Antonio at Texas Tech
Rhode Island at Western Kentucky
Southeast Missouri State at Utah
San Diego at California-Santa Barbara
St. Peter?s at Rutgers
Mississippi at Jackson State
Miami (Ohio) at Michigan
Liberty at Cincinnati