CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of Vermont Catamounts, the 2008 America East women's basketball regular season runners-up, will host Dartmouth in the first round of the Postseason Women's National Invitational Tournament as announced by the tournament directors Monday night. Vermont (23-8) will be making its first postseason appearance since a WNIT bid in 2002.
Vermont and Dartmouth will square off on Thursday, March 20 at 7 p.m. in Patrick Gymnasium on the campus of UVM. The winner will face Boston College on Monday, March 24 at a time and site to be determined.
This is the second year that the Postseason WNIT has invited 48 teams to the tournament, including 31 guaranteed berths, one for each of the conferences, and 17 at-large teams. The Catamounts earned their bid as the highest-finishing team in America East without an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.
The Catamounts advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2002 Postseason WNIT after defeating Holy Cross
and St. Joseph's (Pa.) at Patrick Gymnasium. Vermont's quarterfinal run is
the furthest any America East team has advanced in the league's WNIT
history.
Vermont advanced to the semifinals of the America East
Tournament for the second straight year and the 16th time overall with a
70-45 win over No. 7 New Hampshire in the quarterfinals. UVM fell in
double-overtime, 76-74, to No. 3 Boston University in the semifinals.