The South Dakota women’s basketball team will host North Dakota in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
The 64-team bracket was announced late Monday. The winner will face either Iowa or Missouri State in the second round at a date and time to be determined.
As the reigning WNIT Champions, South Dakota (22-8) earned an at-large bid to the tournament after finishing with an 11-5 record in the Summit League. USD is one of three league teams to earn a spot in the WNIT as the league boasted its best RPI (11th) in history at the end of the regular season. The Coyotes are competing in a postseason tournament for the seventh consecutive season with its fourth WNIT appearance in that span. South Dakota is 8-2 all-time in the WNIT.
North Dakota (20-10) earns the Big Sky’s automatic bid to the WNIT after a 15-3 record in conference play. The Fighting Hawks were co-regular season champions with Montana State, who won the Big Sky Tournament last week.
