Little Rock Among 64-Team Field for 2023 WNIT

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The season is not over for the Trojans. Little Rock is among the 64 teams in the field for the 25^th Postseason WNIT as Joe Foley and his team will make their sixth appearance in the postseason tournament.
 
The 2023 field features 32 automatic qualifiers – of which Little Rock is one – which are teams that are the next-highest finishers in their conference's regular season that were not tabbed for the NCAA Tournament. The other 32 teams are at-large selections, chosen after consideration of a mix of criteria by WNIT officials.
 
Little Rock faced four teams in the 2023 Postseason WNIT field during the regular season (Arkansas, Auburn, Missouri State, Western Kentucky) and another three that are among the 2023 NCAA Tournament participants (Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee Tech).
 
AQ's (32 - * denotes regular season champion/co-champion)
Arkansas (21-12) – Southeastern
*Boston (24-8) -- Patriot
Bowling Green (27-6) – Mid-American
*Columbia (23-5) – Ivy
*Fairleigh Dickinson (24-7) -- Northeast
*Green Bay (27-5) – Horizon
High Point (17-14) – Big South
*Illinois State (24-8) – Missouri Valley
*Jackson State (21-9) – Southwestern Athletic
Kansas (19-11) – Big 12
Liberty (24-8) -- Atlantic Sun
*Little Rock (21-10) – Ohio Valley
Memphis (20-10) – American Athletic
Morgan State (17-11) -- Mid-Eastern Athletic
Nebraska (16-14) – Big Ten
Niagara (18-12) – Metro Atlantic Athletic
North Dakota State (18-11) – Summit
*Northern Arizona (21-13) – Big Sky
San Diego (17-13) – West Coast
Seton Hall (18-14) – Big East
*Stephen F. Austin (26-6) -- Western Athletic
Syracuse (18-12) – Atlantic Coast
*Texas A&M Corpus Christi (19-11) – Southland
Texas State (23-9) – Sun Belt
*Towson (21-11) -- Colonial Athletic
*UAlbany (22-11) – America East
*UC-Irvine (24-6) – Big West
*UMass (26-6) – Atlantic 10
Washington (15-14) – Pac 12
Western Kentucky (19-13) -- Conference USA
*Wofford (22-9) – Southern
Wyoming (22-10) – Mountain West
 
At Large (32)
Auburn (15-14) – Southeastern
Ball State (25-8) – Mid-American
*Belmont (23-11) – Missouri Valley
BYU (16-16) – West Coast
Clemson (17-15) – Atlantic Coast
Colorado State (20-11) – Mountain West
Drexel (21-9) – Colonial Athletic
Florida (16-14) – Southeastern
Fordham (18-12) – Atlantic 10
Harvard (17-11) – Ivy
Kansas State (17-16) – Big 12
Kent State (21-10) – Mid-American
Long Beach State (23-9) – Big West
Louisiana Tech (19-12) – Conference USA
Missouri (17-13) – Southeastern
Missouri State (20-11) – Missouri Valley
New Mexico (20-12) – Mountain West
Northern Iowa (22-9) – Missouri Valley
Oregon (17-14) – Pac 12
Penn (17-11) – Ivy
*Rhode Island (24-6) – Atlantic 10
Rice (22-8) – Conference USA
Richmond (20-10) – Atlantic 10
Saint Joseph's (20-10) – Atlantic 10
San Diego State (23-10) – Mountain West
San Francisco (19-12) – West Coast
SMU (16-12) – American
Texas Tech (18-14) – Big 12
Tulane (18-13) – American
UTEP (20-11) – Conference USA
Wake Forest (16-16) – Atlantic Coast
Wichita State (18-14) – American Athletic
 
Including the Trojans, there are 35 teams that won at least 20 games and 17 teams that either won or tied for first place in their conference's regular-season slate. Here's the schedule for the 2023 event:
 
Bracket released with matchups, Round 1 game times - Monday, March 13.
Round 1 – March 15-17
Round 2 –  March 18-21
Round 3 –  March 22-24
Quarterfinals – March 25-27
Semifinals – March 28-29
Championship – Saturday, April 1 at 5:30 p.m. ET (broadcast by CBS Sports Network)
 
"Postseason accomplishments can fuel some of the most powerful and deeply felt memories that college basketball programs will experience, and we are thrilled the WNIT has been on the job for 25 years to provide an avenue for players, coaches and fans to make the most of these opportunities," said WNIT director Johnna Pointer. "From the start, Triple Crown has elevated and appreciated the dedication found within women's sports, and every indication suggests the 2023 Postseason WNIT will challenge the teams involved and keep fans on the edge of their seats."
 
Did you know?

• The Postseason WNIT is the longest current running postseason event for women's college basketball, in addition to the NCAA Tournament.
• In existence since 1998, the WNIT has afforded hundreds of opportunities for schools in every conference to play in the postseason.
• The WNIT expanded from 16 teams in the initial year to 64 teams in 2010. The WNIT is a huge supporter of women's basketball, and has demonstrated consistency, tradition, and staying power throughout the years.
• The WNIT is committed to all established conferences. It is the only men's or women's postseason tournament - other than the NCAA - to offer an automatic berth to each of the 32 established conferences.
• WNIT games showcase the best of women's basketball, both with fan excitement (The 2009 championship was played in front of a Big 12 record 16,113 fans at Kansas) and level of play (teams that do well in the Post WNIT often make a huge jump the following year to performing well in the NCAA Tournament).
• Everyone wants home games, and the WNIT makes hosting affordable for all teams. Teams can host in the first round for a guarantee of $6,500 a game. They can host in the second round for $7,500 a game.
• The WNIT helps offset those costs and assumes all risk for high-cost travel. Teams pay no more than $12,000 combined for all of their road games in the Postseason WNIT. This allows teams to budget for their postseason play and doesn't penalize them for winning.
• Early-round pairings are regionalized as much as possible in order to minimize missed class time and travel costs.
• The WNIT's travel agents are always available to help teams late at night and on the weekends to secure travel for the next round.
• The championship game is televised live to a national audience every year, because the WNIT is financially committed to promoting women's basketball.

For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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