2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament

2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament
Season	2016–17
Teams	64
Finals site	Calihan Hall; Detroit, Michigan
Champions	Michigan Wolverines (1st title)
Runner-up	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Villanova Wildcats (1st semifinal); Washington State Cougars (1st semifinal);
Winning coach	Kim Barnes Arico (1st title)
MVP	Katelynn Flaherty (Michigan)
Attendance	4,417 (championship game)
Women's National Invitation Tournaments
«2016	2018»

The 2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2017 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 13, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament began on March 15 and ended on April 1, with the championship game televised on the CBS Sports Network.^[1] In the championship game, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 89–79, in triple overtime.^[2]

Participants

The 2017 Postseason WNIT field consists of 32 automatic invitations – one from each conference – and 32 (or more) at-large teams.^[3] The intention of the WNIT Selection Committee was to select the best available at-large teams in the nation. A team offered an automatic berth by the WNIT will be the team that is the highest-finishing team in its conference's regular-season standings, and not selected for the NCAA Tournament. A team that fulfills these qualities, and accepts, earned the WNIT automatic berth for its conference, regardless of overall record. The remaining berths in the WNIT were filled by the best teams available. Any team considered for an at-large berth has an overall record of .500 or better.^[4]

Automatic qualifiers

Conference	School
America East	New Hampshire
American	UCF
Atlantic 10	George Washington
Atlantic Sun	Stetson
ACC	Virginia
Big 12	Oklahoma State
Big East	Villanova
Big Sky	North Dakota
Big South	Radford
Big Ten	Michigan
Big West	UC Davis
Colonial	James Madison
C-USA	Middle Tennessee
Horizon League	Wright State
Ivy League	Princeton
MAAC	Rider
MAC	Central Michigan
MEAC	Bethune-Cookman
Missouri Valley	Missouri State
Mountain West	Colorado State
Northeast	Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley	Morehead State
Pac-12	Washington State
Patriot	Navy
Southern	Mercer
Southland	Abilene Christian
SWAC	Grambling State
Summit League	IUPUI
Sun Belt	Little Rock
WCC	BYU
WAC	Seattle

At-large bids

Conference	School
SEC	Alabama
MAC	Ball State
Pac-12	Colorado
Colonial	Drexel
Atlantic 10	Duquesne
Atlantic 10	Fordham
Big East	Georgetown
ACC	Georgia Tech
Ivy	Harvard
Big Ten	Indiana
Big Ten	Iowa
Atlantic Sun	Jacksonville
MAC	Kent State
C-USA	Louisiana Tech
MAC	Northern Illinois
MAC	Ohio
SEC	Ole Miss
Big Ten	Penn State
Big East	St. John's
Atlantic 10	Saint Joseph's
Atlantic 10	Saint Louis
WCC	Saint Mary's
Summit League	South Dakota
Summit League	South Dakota State
American	SMU
C-USA	Southern Miss
Sunbelt	Texas–Arlington
American	Tulane
Mountain West	UNLV
Pac-12	Utah
ACC	Virginia Tech
ACC	Wake Forest
Mountain West	Wyoming

Bracket

All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
* – Denotes overtime period

Round 1 March 16–17		Round 2 March 18–19		Round 3 March 23		Quarterfinals March 26

Colorado State	80*
Saint Mary's	68	Colorado State	57
Utah	62	UC Davis	58
UC Davis	72			UC Davis	62
BYU	64			Washington State	71
Washington State	72	Washington State	68*
Wyoming	68	Wyoming	67
Seattle	52					Washington State	74
South Dakota	78					Iowa	66
North Dakota	55	South Dakota	73
Iowa	95	Iowa	78
Missouri State	74			Iowa	80
South Dakota State	94			Colorado	62
Northern Illinois	84	South Dakota State	75
Colorado	66	Colorado	81*
UNLV	52

Round 1 March 15–16		Round 2 March 19		Round 3 March 23		Quarterfinals March 26

Tulane	62
Texas-Arlington	57	Tulane	66
Ole Miss	75	Grambling State	49
Grambling State	78			Tulane	64
Alabama	81			Alabama	72
Mercer	57	Alabama	55
Southern Miss	62	Little Rock	53
Little Rock	72					Alabama	66
Middle Tennessee	67					Georgia Tech	76
Morehead State	58	Middle Tennessee	73
Wake Forest	71	Wake Forest	66
Bethune-Cookman	42			Middle Tennessee	57
Georgia Tech	71			Georgia Tech	70
Jacksonville	55	Georgia Tech	63
UCF	73	UCF	51
Stetson	53

Round 1 March 16–17		Round 2 March 18–19		Round 3 March 23		Quarterfinals March 25

Michigan	67
Kent State	60	Michigan	71
Wright State	66	Wright State	66
Central Michigan	64			Michigan	60
New Hampshire	56			St. John's	40
Harvard	69	Harvard	57
St. John's	72	St. John's	62
Sacred Heart	43					Michigan	80
Penn State	74					Virginia Tech	62
Ohio	65	Penn State	70
Georgetown	49	Fordham	51
Fordham	60			Penn State	55
George Washington	51			Virginia Tech	64
Navy	61*	Navy	64
Virginia Tech	76	Virginia Tech	75
Rider	62

Round 1 March 16–17		Round 2 March 19–20		Round 3 March 23		Quarterfinals March 26

Princeton	53
Villanova	59	Villanova	56
Drexel	70	Drexel	51
Duquesne	47			Villanova	69*
James Madison	80			James Madison	67
Radford	59	James Madison	61
Saint Joseph's	56	Virginia	55
Virginia	62					Villanova	69
Indiana	71					Indiana	57
Ball State	58	Indiana	71
Saint Louis	62	Saint Louis	53
IUPUI	57			Indiana	64
Oklahoma State	56			SMU	44
Abilene Christian	66	Abilene Christian	52
SMU	75*	SMU	59
Louisiana Tech	70

Semifinals and Championship Game

Semifinals March 29		Championship Game April 1

Washington State	61

Georgia Tech	69
		Georgia Tech	79

		Michigan	89***
Michigan	65

Villanova	61

All-tournament team

Katelynn Flaherty, Michigan (MVP)
Alex Louin, Villanova
Zaire O'Neil, Georgia Tech
Francesca Pan, Georgia Tech
Alexys Swedlund, Washington State
Hallie Thome, Michigan

Source:^[5]

References

^ "Postseason WNIT final to air on CBS Sports Network". Women's NIT. Triple Crown Sports. March 3, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
^ Snyder, Mark (April 2, 2017). "Flaherty, Michigan women nab WNIT crown in 3 OTs". Battle Creek Enquirer. Detroit Free Press. p. C3. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ "2017 Postseason WNIT Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
^ "Postseason WNIT Sets Dates". Women's NIT. TripleCrownSports. January 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
^ Koso, Kyle (April 1, 2017). "Michigan outlasts Georgia Tech for 2017 WNIT title". womensnit.com. Retrieved March 28, 2022.

[1] "Postseason WNIT final to air on CBS Sports Network". Women's NIT. Triple Crown Sports. March 3, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.

[2] Snyder, Mark (April 2, 2017). "Flaherty, Michigan women nab WNIT crown in 3 OTs". Battle Creek Enquirer. Detroit Free Press. p. C3. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via newspapers.com.

[3] "2017 Postseason WNIT Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

[4] "Postseason WNIT Sets Dates". Women's NIT. TripleCrownSports. January 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.

[5] Koso, Kyle (April 1, 2017). "Michigan outlasts Georgia Tech for 2017 WNIT title". womensnit.com. Retrieved March 28, 2022.

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