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2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament

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2024 WBIT
Season2023–24
Teams32
Finals siteHinkle Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana
ChampionsIllinois (1st title)
Runner-upVillanova
Winning coachShauna Green (1st title)
MVPMakira Cook (Illinois)
WBIT

The 2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I women's college basketball teams not selected to participate in the 2024 NCAA tournament. The tournament began on March 21 and ended on April 3. The first three rounds were played on campuses, with the semifinal and championship final played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.[1] It was the inaugural edition of the postseason Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. Illinois won the tournament, marking the program's first-ever postseason tournament championship.[2]

Participants

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Teams and pairings for the 2024 WBIT were released by the WBIT Committee on Sunday, March 17, 2024. Thirty–two teams qualified for the WBIT, including both automatic qualifiers and at-large selections.

Automatic qualifiers

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The regular-season champion of any NCAA Division I conference (as determined by the conference's tiebreaking protocol) not otherwise selected for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will, if eligible, secure an automatic qualification invitation to the WBIT.[a] Like the Division I tournament committee, the WBIT Selection Committee will use a variety of resources to determine the participating teams.[3]

Team Conference Overall record
Hawaii Big West 20–10
Lamar Southland 24–6
Tulsa American 23–9
High Point Big South 20–11
Stony Brook CAA 27–4
Cleveland State Horizon 29–5
Toledo MAC 26–5

At-large bids

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The following teams were awarded at-large bids.

Team Conference Overall record
George Mason Atlantic 10 23–7
VCU Atlantic 10 26–5
Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 26–5
Georgia Tech ACC 17–15
Virginia ACC 15–15
North Texas American 23–8
TCU Big 12 20–11
BYU Big 12 16–16
St. John's Big East 17–14
Villanova Big East 18–12
Georgetown Big East 22–11
Seton Hall Big East 17–14
Penn State Big Ten 19–12
Illinois Big Ten 14–15
Ball State MAC 28–5
Belmont MVC 25–8
Missouri State MVC 23–9
California Pac-12 18–14
Washington State Pac-12 18–14
Washington Pac-12 16–14
Mississippi State SEC 21–11
Arkansas SEC 18–14
Florida SEC 16–15
James Madison Sun Belt 23–11
Santa Clara WCC 24–8

Declined bids

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Miami (FL) declined to play in the 2024 WBIT.

Bracket

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First round
March 21
Campus sites
Second round
March 24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 28
         
1 James Madison 70
Stony Brook 81
Stony Brook 62
4 Illinois 79
4 Illinois 74
Missouri State 69
4 Illinois 69
3 Tulsa 61
3 Tulsa 80
Arkansas 62
3 Tulsa 73
Georgetown 61
2 Washington 56
Georgetown 64
First round
March 21
Campus sites
Second round
March 24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 28
         
1 Washington State 66
Lamar 46
1 Washington State 73
4 Santa Clara 47
4 Santa Clara 60
BYU 59
1 Washington State 63
2 Toledo 61
3 Florida 60
St. John's 79
St John's 71
2 Toledo 72
2 Toledo 76
Cleveland State 68
First round
March 21
Campus sites
Second round
March 24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 28
         
1 Villanova 75
VCU 60
1 Villanova 73
4 Virginia 55
4 Virginia 81
High Point 59
1 Villanova 67
3 Saint Joseph's 59
3 Saint Joseph's 54
Seton Hall 47
3 Saint Joseph's 63
2 California 61
2 California 65
Hawaii 60
First round
March 21
Campus sites
Second round
March 24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 28
         
1 Penn State 84*
George Mason 80
1 Penn State 74
Belmont 66
4 Ball State 59
Belmont 77
1 Penn State 92
2 Mississippi State 87
3 TCU 67
North Texas 58
3 TCU 61
2 Mississippi State 68
2 Mississippi State 84
Georgia Tech 47
Semifinals
April 1
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Final
April 3
Hinkle Fieldhouse
      
4 Illinois 81
1 Washington State 58
4 Illinois 71
1 Villanova 57
1 Villanova 58
1 Penn State 53

* Denotes overtime period

Media

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ESPN Inc. had exclusive rights to all WBIT games. It telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN+. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ The regular-season and tournament champion of the Ohio Valley Conference, Southern Indiana, was not eligible for either the NCAA tournament or WBIT due to being in transition from NCAA Division II.

References

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  1. ^ "Event Information". ncaa.com. March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "Makira Cook's strong 2nd half leads Illinois past Villanova 71-57 for inaugural WBIT championship". Associated Press. April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  3. ^ "ESPN networks to televise inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament". ncaa.com. September 26, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.