Ball State University Athletics
WBB Travels To Iowa Thursday For First Round Of WNIT
March 15, 2016 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team has earned an at-large berth to compete in the 2016 Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament that consists of 64 teams. The Cardinals will play at Iowa Thursday the time is 8 p.m. (EST).
Ball State will be making its fourth straight WNIT appearance, and seventh overall. The Cardinals went 1-1 in 2002 in its first WNIT postseason experience, beating Louisville (95-84) and then falling in the second round to Valparaiso (77-69). In 2003, the Cardinals defeated Indiana State (91-87) and then fell to Missouri (88-77). In 2007, the Cardinals fell at home to Kentucky (85-82). Ball State advanced to the final 16 in the WNIT in 2012-13 after taking down Big Ten foe Minnesota (54-51) and Northern Iowa (53-48) before the Cardinals lost to Kansas State (60-48). In 2014, Ball State fell 69-65 at Northwestern in the first round and then lost to Middle Tennessee 69-58 last season. Ball State is 4-6 all-time in the WNIT.
In 2016, Ball State clinched its third automatic bye in four years as the third seed in last week's Mid-American Conference Tournament and advanced straight to the quarterfinals, where they lost to No. 6 seed Eastern Michigan 67-53.
Ball State earned its ways to the WNIT in 2014-15 after clinching the MAC West Division title outright for the first time since 2008-09 and earning a double bye to the MAC Tournament semifinals where they lost to Eastern Michigan, 75-65. The Cardinals lost on the road to Middle Tennessee in last season's WNIT, 69-58.
In 2014, the Cardinals earned their way to the WNIT after a seven-game winning streak before losing 79-68 to Akron in the 2014 MAC Tournament title game. Ball State lost on the road to Northwestern by a score of 69-64 in the WNIT that season.
Ball State made history in 2013, as they won two WNIT games for the first time in program history. During their 2013 WNIT run, the Cardinals knocked off Big Ten foe Minnesota 54-51 on the road and scored a 53-48 win over Northern Iowa at Worthen Arena. In the Final 16 game, the Cardinals suffered a 60-48 loss at Kansas State.
Brady Sallee, who is in his fourth season at Ball State, is the only head coach in program history to take the Cardinals to four straight WNITs. He has led the Cardinals to a 21-9 overall record in 2015-16 which marks only the fifth time in program history Ball State has had a 20+ win season.
Sallee is also the only head coach in program history to have four consecutive winning seasons — 17-16 (2012-13), 18-17 (2013-14), 17-12 (2014-15) and 21-9 (2015-16).
The Postseason WNIT features 64 NCAA Division I women's basketball teams. The field includes 31 teams that receive automatic berths - one berth from each of the nation's established conferences - and 33 at-large selections. All teams at the NCAA Division I level are considered for at-large berths, including those who are independent and/or are in the process of reaching full NCAA Division I status.
