NEW YORK – Columbia learned that it will compete against Patriot League regular season champion Holy Cross on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The game will be hosted by Columbia from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
The WNIT released its
64-team bracket Monday afternoon. Columbia earned the Ivy League's automatic qualifying spot into the field. The Lions are competing in their first WNIT.
"We're looking forward to continuing our season and showcasing more of the Columbia women's basketball brand in the WNIT," sixth-year head coach
Megan Griffith said. "While we're disappointed that we missed out on the NCAA Tournament, competing in the WNIT will give our team the invaluable experience of competing for a championship in March. I know we're ready to battle."
Columbia (22-6, 12-2 Ivy) had a historic season, winning the most games in the 38-year history of the program. The Lions also had their best Ivy League season in their 36 years since officially joining the conference (1986-87). Along the way, they started the 2021-22 season 5-0 for the first time, started the Ivy League season 7-0 for the first time and earned the No. 2 seed at last weekend's Ivy League Tournament. Columbia throttled third-seeded Yale, 67-38, in the semifinals to advance to the Championship Game, where it fell to top-seeded Princeton, 77-59.
Holy Cross (20-10, 14-4 Patriot) collected its 22nd 20-win season in program history and set the team record for conference wins with 14. The top-seeded Crusaders were upset by eighth-seeded Navy, 50-49, in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament
The 24th Postseason WNIT features 30 automatic qualifiers, 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 34 teams are at-large selections, chosen after consideration of a mix of criteria by WNIT officials.
All first-round games will be played Wednesday-Friday, March 16-18, followed by second-round games March 19-22. The round of 16 and quarterfinals are slated for March 23-28, followed by the semifinals on Wednesday, March 30 and Thursday, March 31. The 2022 WNIT Championship Game will be played Saturday, April 2.
For the latest on Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on
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