JAMES MADISON SELECTED FOR 2010 WNIT PRESEASON TOURNAMENT
HARRISONBURG, Va., May 25, 2010 - James Madison is
among 16 teams in the field for the 2010 Preseason Women's National Invitation
Tournament.
The tournament field, announced Wednesday, includes JMU and six other teams
that won their conference championships in 2010.
The Colonial Athletic Association champion Dukes join league champions Austin
Peay (Ohio Valley), Hampton (Mid-Eastern Athletic), Lamar (Southland), South
Dakota State (Summit League), St. Francis, Pa. (Northeast), and Utah Valley
(Great West).
Other preseason WNIT teams that also earned postseason play in 2010 are DePaul
(NCAA), Charlotte (WNIT), Florida (WNIT), Iona (WNIT), Missouri State (WNIT),
Purdue (WNIT) and Toledo (WNIT). Central Florida and Valparaiso round out
the field for this year's Preseason WNIT.
Pairings for the Preseason WNIT will be announced in June.
JMU also participated in the Preseason WNIT in 2000-01. The Dukes lost
75-70 at Georgetown in a first-round game.
The 2010 Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The event
opens Nov. 12-13 with first-round games. Second-round games will be
played Nov. 14-15, semifinals will be Nov. 17-18, and the championship is set
for Sunday, Nov. 21. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play
consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 19-20. All games are hosted by
participating schools, and sites are announced by the end of the preceding
round.
A capsule look at the 16-team field:
- Austin Peay won an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament-record sixth title
and returns four of its five starters from the NCAA Tournament team that was
15-18.
- Central Florida, which won the Conference USA Tournament a year ago,
returns all five starters from its 11-16 team. Coach Joi Williams will
have seven seniors on the roster.
- Charlotte welcomes back its leading scorer and rebounder from an 18-14
team that was 9-5 in the Atlantic 10. The team advanced to the second
round in the Postseason WNIT.
- DePaul played in its eighth straight NCAA Tournament and has all five
starters back from a team that was 21-12 and 9-7 in the Big East. Sam
Quigley was one of eight finalists for the Nancy Lieberman award, which goes to
the nation's top point guard, and returns for her senior year under coach Doug
Bruno.
- Florida features a balanced lineup and expects bigger things coming
off a 15-17 season that saw the Gators earn the Southeastern Conference's
automatic qualifying berth in the Postseason WNIT.
- Hampton recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons and played in its first
NCAA Tournament in program history in 2010. The Pirates won 16 of their last 19
games, including the MEAC Tournament championship, with seven freshmen and four
sophomores on the roster.
- Iona welcomes back an experienced roster that strives to build on its
18-14 season and third appearance in the Postseason WNIT in the past four
years.
- JMU has nearly everyone back from its NCAA Tournament team that
finished 26-7 overall and 13-5 in the Colonial, including winning the
conference tournament championship. CAA first-teamer Dawn Evans (24.6 ppg, 4.6
apg) heads a strong four-member senior class.
- Lamar is in the midst of a program turnaround with coach Larry
Tidwell. The team won its first Southland Tournament title in history and
played in its first NCAA Tournament in2010. Conference player of the Year Jenna
Plumley and the bulk of the team return to defend a 26-8 overall record and
13-3 mark in the Southland.
- Missouri State posted a 12-win turnaround with a 22-11 record and its
first postseason (WNIT) appearance in four years. Missouri Valley
Conference Player of the Year Casey Garrison (19.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.1 apg) will
be a junior on a team that has all but one player back.
- Purdue's youth resurgence continues with the signing of the top two
players in Indiana. They will join 2008 Miss Basketball Indiana Brittany
Rayburn, who led last season's 15-17 team in scoring. The Boilermakers were the
Big 10's automatic qualifying team for the 2010 Postseason WNIT.
- South Dakota State made its second straight NCAA Tournament run after
capturing the Summit League tournament title. The squad returns three
starters from a 22-11 team that won 11 of its last 13 games and has made an
immediate national impact while in its Division I infancy.
- Saint Francis (Pa.) won its Northeast Conference-record 10th league
title and earned an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Susan
Robinson Fruchtl has taken the program from worst in the NEC (2007-08) to the
NEC championship game in 2008-09 to the NEC Tournament title in 2009-10.
- Toledo returns three starters from a 25-9 team that won the
Mid-American Conference West Division and advanced into the Postseason
WNIT. The Rockets will open next season with a 13-game home winning
streak to defend.
- Utah Valley won the inaugural Great West Tournament title, and the
Wolverines finished their 10-22 year with five straight victories.
- Valparaiso returns three starters from a 9-21 team and has high
expectations in the Horizon League. Coach Keith Freeman enters his 17th
season at Valparaiso and will go for his 270th win this fall.
In last year's Preseason WNIT, Ohio State defeated Oklahoma State 93-72 in the
championship.