The Women’s National Invitation Tournament has reached the Great 8.
The WNIT has fallen in stature in recent years, as the WBIT replaced the tournament three years ago as the second-tier tournament for college women’s basketball. The WNIT now offers 48 bids.
The WNIT offered automatic bids for teams that were two-seeds in their respective conference tournaments and didn’t make either the NCAA or WBIT tournaments.
The tournament will start on March 19 with the Championship game set for April 4.
2026 WNIT Great 8 matchups
Sunday, March 29
South Dakota vs. Montana State, 2 p.m.
Monday, March 30
Marshall vs. Army, 6 p.m.
Illinois State vs. George Washington, 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas State vs. Cleveland State, 8 p.m.
WNIT Super 16 scores
Cleveland State 66, Middle Tennessee State 56
South Dakota 73, Pepperdine 57
Montana State 72, Portland 54
Army 74, La Salle 63
George Washington 71, Loyola Chicago 62
Illinois State 59, Abilene Christian 55
Marshall 72, Youngstown State 46
Arkansas State 83, Purdue Fort Wayne 72
2026 WNIT basketball tournament first round scores
Thursday, March 19
George Washington 63, Bradley 60
Binghamton 81, Mercyhurst 60
Maryland Eastern Shore 59, Wake Forest 48
St. Bonaventure 69, Drexel 67 (OT)
Monmouth 72, Lehigh 62
UTRGV 71, Austin Peay 59
NJIT 68, Merrimack 65
UMBC 62, Ohio 58 (OT)
Northern Colorado 79, Air Force 72
Pepperdine 71, UC Davis 68
Portland 62, Sam Houston 59
San Francisco 80, Utah Valley 50
Friday, March 20
Stetson (20-11) at Florida International (20-11), 7 p.m.
Morehead State (18-14) at Radford (22-12), 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 21
Loyola Chicago (14-17) at Norfolk State (18-14), 2 p.m.
South Alabama (16-18) at Alcorn State (17-13), 4 p.m.
Teams with first round byes
Southern Utah
South Dakota
Lamar
Montana State
FGCU
Southern Indiana
Abilene Christian
Illinois State
Army
La Salle
Youngstown State
Marshall
Purdue Fort Wayne
Arkansas State
Middle Tennessee State
Cleveland State
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports, Jax State athletics, the outdoors in Alabama and more for the Gadsden Times and USA TODAY Network. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: WNIT basketball tournament second round matchups, schedule, scores
Reporting by Maxwell Donaldson, Gadsden Times / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
