Preseason WNIT Bracket in PDF Format
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Fort Collins, Co. (June 26, 2003) - The second season of the B.J. Smith era of Southeast Women's Basketball will begin next Winter in the Women's Pre-Season NIT as the Otahks will travel to Salt Lake City on November 14 to take on the Utes of the University of Utah in the first round.

The winner of the Southeast - Utah game will face off with the winner of the San Diego - California-Santa Barbara game. Also on that side of the bracket will be Texas-San Antonio playing at Texas Tech, and Rhode Island playing at Western Kentucky.

The other side of the bracket includes Saint Peter's playing at Rutgers, Jackson State playing at Mississippi, Miami of Ohio at Michigan and Liberty at Cincinnati.

The field of 16 includes top 25 teams from last year including Texas Tech, Santa Barbara, Rutgers, Western Kentucky, Utah, Liberty and Cincinnati. Seven teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season including, Texas Tech, Western Kentucky, Utah, Santa Barbara, Rutgers, Liberty and Cincinnati, will be in the event.

Head Coach B.J. Smith is excited about the opportunity to get more exposure to his program.

"We are looking forward to the chance to play some of the top programs in the country," he said. "I think it says a lot about our program that we were invited and we now have to make sure that we're ready when we get there. Utah is a tough team and a tough place to play in.

"Since I got here, I said my ultimate goal was to make it to the NCAA Tournament and I believe this is a step in the right direction. We have to be prepared for not only the NCAA Tournament, but also our own OVC Tournament and playing teams like this, as well as some of what we have planned in the regular season, will help us out for that goal."

In last year's Preseason WNIT, No. 4-ranked Kansas State captured the title with an 88-66 victory over No. 14 Penn State. Kansas State went on to a 29-5 season, setting school records for victories. The tournament opens Nov. 14-15, with second-round games on Nov. 16-17, semifinals on Nov. 20, and the championship on Nov. 23.