2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament

The 2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 48 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The 40th annual tournament was played from March 19, 2008 to April 5, 2008, entirely on campus sites. The highest ranked team in each conference that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament received an automatic bid to this tournament. The remaining slots were filled by the WNIT Selection Committee. Marquette defeated Michigan State, 81–66, to win the tournament.^[1]

2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament

Teams	48
Finals site	Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, Michigan
Champions	Marquette (1st title)
Runner-up	Michigan State (1st title game)
MVP	Krystal Ellis (Marquette)
Attendance	7,818 (championship game)
Women's National Invitation Tournaments «2007 2009»

Seeding

Teams are not seeded in the WNIT. Rather, teams are placed into one of three tiers. Teams in the upper tier are spread around the bracket as best as possible, although not every upper tier team receives a first round bye. Lower tier and middle tier teams tend to meet in the first round, while upper tier teams will usually play winners of first-round games in the second round. The organizers attempt to bracket the first two rounds based on geography. The location of games is determined in part by seed, but also by facility availability and other factors.^[2][3]

Bracket

Section 1

	Round 1 March 19–22					Round 2 March 22–25					Round 3 March 26–28					Quarterfinals March 29–31
							Texas Tech*	82
							Texas State	49
		Prairie View A&M	83
		Texas State*	84
												Texas Tech*	74
												TCU	81
							TCU*	85
							Boise State	56
		Idaho State	54
		Boise State*	77
																	TCU	90
																	Colorado*	96†
							Colorado*	82
							Gonzaga	68
		UC Davis	60
		Gonzaga*	81
												Colorado*	64
												Villanova	58
							Wisconsin*	54
							Villanova	60
		American	52
		Villanova*	53

Note: Asterisk denotes home team. † denotes overtime.

Section 2

Round 1 March 19–22

Round 2 March 21–25

Round 3 March 26–28

Quarterfinals March 29–31

Marquette*

75†

Creighton

69

Creighton

76

South Dakota State*

69

Marquette*

72

Illinois

64

Illinois*

48

Drake

44

Wisconsin-Green Bay

56

Drake*

65

Marquette

69

Kentucky*

64

Kentucky*

68†

Middle Tennessee

66

Western Carolina

69

Middle Tennessee*

104

Kentucky*

84

James Madison

76

Indiana*

81

James Madison

86†

Radford

58

James Madison*

80

Note: Asterisk denotes home team. † denotes overtime.

Section 3

	Round 1 March 19–22					Round 2 March 22–25					Round 3 March 26–28					Quarterfinals March 29–31
							Michigan*	75
							VCU	57
		VCU	80
		Charlotte*	67
												Michigan*	59
												Southern Miss	45
							Mississippi State	61
							Southern Miss*	62
		Arkansas-Little Rock	57
		Southern Miss*	67
																	Michigan	40
																	Michigan State*	45†
							Kansas*	82
							Evansville	60
		Southeast Missouri State	58
		Evansville*	60
												Kansas	54
												Michigan State*	58
							Michigan State*	74
							Bowling Green	66
		Dayton	52
		Bowling Green*	64

Note: Asterisk denotes home team. † denotes overtime.

Section 4

	Round 1 March 19–22					Round 2 March 22–25					Round 3 March 26–28					Quarterfinals March 29–31
							St. John's*	65
							Iona	59
		Iona	71
		Quinnipiac*	59
												St. John's*	65
												Boston College	56
							Boston College*	76
							Vermont	64
		Dartmouth	50
		Vermont*	69
																	St. John's	61
																	NC State*	63
							NC State*	72
							South Carolina	69
		North Carolina A&T	74
		South Carolina*	102
												NC State*	80
												Florida	55
							Florida*	60
							Florida Gulf Coast	55
		South Florida	65
		Florida Gulf Coast*	67

Note: Asterisk denotes home team

Semifinals and finals

	Semifinals April 2					Finals April 5
	Colorado*		72
	Marquette		86
						Marquette		81
						Michigan State*		66
	Michigan State*		58
	NC State		57

Note: Asterisk denotes home team

All-tournament team

• Krystal Ellis, Marquette (MVP)
• Angel Robinson, Marquette
• Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State
• Kalisha Keane, Michigan State
• Khadijah Washington, NC State
• Jackie McFarland, Colorado

Source:^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

See also

• 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2008 National Invitation Tournament

References

1. "Marquette Claims WNIT Title With 81-66 Win Over Michigan State". Marquette University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
2. . Archived from the original on 2008-03-21. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
3. "2008 Postseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
4. Solari, Chris (April 6, 2008). "Spartans stumble in WNIT title game". Lansing State Journal. p. 1C. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
5. Solari, Chris (April 6, 2008). "MSU: 'We ran into a buzzsaw'". Lansing State Journal. p. 4C. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
6. "Post-game Notes". gomarquette.com. April 5, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
7. "2021–22 NC State Women's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). GoPack.com. North Carolina State University. 2021. p. 93. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
8. "2007–08 Big 12 Women's Basketball – 2007–08 Season Final Release" (PDF). Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. 2008. p. 9. Retrieved May 30, 2022.