The 2016 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2016 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 2, with the championship game televised on CBS Sports Network. All games were played on the campus sites of participating schools.
Participants The 2016 Postseason WNIT field will consist of 32 automatic invitations – one from each conference – and 32 (or more) at-large teams. The intention of the WNIT Selection Committee is to select the best available at-large teams in the nation. A team offered an automatic berth by the WNIT shall be the team that is the highest-finishing team in its conference's regular-season standings, and not selected for the NCAA Tournament. A team that fulfills these qualities, and accepts, will earn the WNIT automatic berth for its conference, regardless of overall record. The remaining berths in the WNIT are filled by the best teams available. Any team considered for an at-large berth must have an overall record of .500 or better. Should a conference's automatic qualifier team decline the WNIT bid, the conference forfeits its AQ spot and that berth goes into the at-large pool. NC State and Arkansas qualified as invitees from the ACC and SEC respectively but each declined to participate.
Automatic qualifiers ConferenceSchoolAmerica EastMaineAmericanTempleAtlantic 10Saint LouisAtlantic SunFlorida Gulf CoastBig 12TCUBig EastVillanovaBig SkyMontana StateBig SouthBig TenMinnesotaBig WestColonialDrexelC-USAUTEPHorizon LeagueIvy LeagueMAACQuinnipiacMACOhioMEACMissouri ValleyNorthern IowaMountain WestFresno StateNortheastOhio ValleyPac-12OregonPatriotBucknellSouthernSouthlandAbilene ChristianSWACSummit LeagueSouth DakotaSun BeltWCCSaint Mary'sWACTexas–Rio Grande Valley
At-large bids ConferenceSchoolMACAkronSECAlabamaMACBall StateMACCentral MichiganC-USACharlotteBig EastCreightonAtlantic 10DaytonMissouri ValleyDrakeMACEastern MichiganCAAElonBig EastGeorgetownACCGeorgia TechWest CoastGonzagaCAAHofstraBig TenIowaSummitIUPUISun BeltLittle RockBig WestC-USAMarshallAmericanMemphisBig TenMichiganBig TenNebraskaBig TenNorthwesternBig TenRutgersWCCSan DiegoWCCSanta ClaraAmericanTulanePac-12UtahAtlantic 10VCUACCVirginiaACCVirginia TechACCWake ForestC-USAWestern KentuckyHorizon LeagueWright State
Bracket All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4). * – Denotes overtime period.
Semifinals and championship game
All-tournament team Nicole Seekamp, South Dakota (MVP) Maite Cazorla, Oregon Madison Ristovski, Michigan Whitney Knight, Florida Gulf Coast Kaneisha Atwater, Florida Gulf Coast Tia Hemiller, South Dakota Source:
See also 2016 National Invitation Tournament
References