July 7, 2008

CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina will face in-state rival Western Carolina in the opening round of the 2008 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament, tournament officials announced Monday.

The Tar Heels and Oklahoma headline a field that includes 12 teams that played in the postseason last spring: Arizona State, Cleveland State, Illinois State, Indiana, Liberty, MTSU, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Robert Morris, VCU, Western Carolina and Xavier. They will be joined in the WNIT field by Ball State, Lafayette, Tulane and UC Riverside.

The WNIT will be played in the format introduced in 2007, where each team is guaranteed to play three games in the MTE format.  Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 21-23.

The event opens Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played Nov. 16-19, semifinals will be Nov. 19-21 and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 23.  All games are played on home campuses, and are announced after each round.

In last year's Preseason WNIT, Maryland defeated LSU. Maryland, ranked fifth in the nation, went on to a 33-4 year, while LSU advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, won the SEC conference title, and finished 31-6.

First-round Preseason WNIT games 
All 2007-2008 team records in parentheses

Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

Robert Morris (23-10) at Xavier (24-9), 3 p.m. ET

Western Carolina (25-9) at North Carolina (33-3), 7 p.m. ET

VCU (26-8) at Liberty (28-4), 7 p.m. ET

Ball State (15-15) at Indiana (18-15), 7 p.m. ET

Illinois State (26-7) at Tulane (16-14), 8 p.m. ET

Cleveland State (19-14) at Arizona State (22-11), 8 p.m. ET

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008

UC Riverside (14-16) at Oklahoma (22-9), 3 p.m. ET

Lafayette (14-16) at MTSU (22-12), 8 p.m. ET