THE FLATS – Georgia Tech women’s basketball is continuing its postseason run earning a selection into the first-ever Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) on Sunday night during the selection show.
The Yellow Jackets (17-15 overall, 7-11 ACC) will open the tournament traveling to Mississippi State, which earned a No. 2 seed, on Thursday, March 21. The winner will advance to the second round to face either No. 3-seed TCU or North Texas. Second round action will be played on March 24.
Georgia Tech reached the second round of the ACC Tournament and has won two of its last three outings. The Jackets capped the regular season picking up some hardware as both Kara Dunn and Tonie Morgan were all-ACC second-team selections. Morgan, who nearly averaged a double-double in Tech’s two games of the ACC Tournament, was also named to the ACC All-Tournament second team.
Four Yellow Jackets are averaging double-figure scoring numbers on the season, paced by Dunn and Morgan at 15.6 points per game each. Kayla Blackshear follows, contributing 11.9 points, while freshman Rusne Augustinaite adds 11.0 points per game on average.
Mississippi State capped its season with a 21-11 overall record and 8-8 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs fell in the second round of the SEC Tournament to Texas A&M. Jerkaila Jordan paces the Bulldogs, averaging 16.0 points per game, while Jessika Carter contributes a double-double behind 14.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. MSU has dropped six of its past seven outings.
Georgia Tech and Mississippi State have met five times in program history with the Bulldogs leading the series, 4-1. Tech took the last meeting between the programs in 2007.
Georgia Tech is returning to postseason action after making consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. This marks the third postseason appearance under the guidance of head coach Nell Fortner. Georgia Tech is making its 20th overall postseason appearance since its first WNIT selection in 1992.
The WBIT is a newly-created postseason tournament, owned and funded by the NCAA. In 2023, the NCAA announced the creation of the annual 32-team postseason invitation tournament with 2024 being the first edition.
Preliminary round games (first, second and quarterfinal rounds) will be played at campus sites. The WBIT semifinals and finals will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, April 1 and 3, respectively. The top 16 seeds, as determined by the selection committee, will host first round games.
All preliminary round games will be streamed live on ESPN+. The semifinal and final games will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN2, respectively.
Below is the schedule of play for the tournament:
First Round March 21 Campus Sites
Second Round March 24 Campus Sites
Quarterfinals March 28 Campus Sites
Semifinals April 1 Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.
Championship April 3 Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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