Howard, Mississippi Valley named to Postseason WNIT Field Announced

FORT COLLINS, Colorado -- The Women’s National Invitation Tournament Selection Committee announced the 64-team field for the 2012 Postseason WNIT on Monday. The WNIT is celebrating its 15th season and has selected one of its most competitive fields in tournament history featuring 36 teams with 20 or more wins this season.

First-round action tips off on Wednesday, March 14 and concludes on Friday, March 16. Second-round games begin March 17-19, Round Three March 21-23, Quarterfinals March 24-26, and Semifinals March 28-29. The championship game will be played on Saturday, March 31. All games are hosted by participating schools.

Among teams receiving automatic berths are Howard University and Mississippi Valley State, the MEAC and SWAC representatives. Howard will open play at University of Virginia on March 15 at 7 p.m. ET. Mississippi Valley State gets the ball rolling at 8 p.m. ET, with Tulane in New Orleans on March 15.

The Pac-12, Colonial and Atlantic 10 led all conferences with five teams represented in this year’s field. The Big East, Big West, Mid-American and Missouri Valley each added 4. Other conferences represented in the field include: Atlantic Coast (3), Southern (3), Summit (3), America East (2), Big 12 (2), Conference USA (2), Sun Belt (2), West Coast (2), Atlantic Sun (1), Big Sky (1), Big South (1), Horizon (1), Ivy (1), MAAC (1), MEAC (1), Mountain West (1), Northeast (1), Ohio Valley (1), Patriot (1), Southland (1), SWAC (1) and WAC (1).

The Postseason WNIT is owned and produced by Fort Collins, Colo.-based Triple Crown Sports, which also organizes men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments in Cancun, and the Preseason WNIT. Triple Crown is the leader in grassroots sports and manages over 300 amateur sporting events across the country in volleyball, fastpitch, baseball, and basketball. With 28 years of experience in the event business, Triple Crown is nationally-recognized as a premier tournament organization.