Mar. 21—CHAMPAIGN — Shauna Green indicated after her Illinois women’s basketball team lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament she wasn’t sure if the Illini would play in a postseason tournament.
That Illinois would have to consider “what do we really want out of this postseason” as it weighed whether to play again this winter.
It made sense the Illini felt that way considering the raw emotions of a 75-65 loss to the Terrapins on March 7 in Minneapolis meant Illinois would not return to the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive season. The Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament was the only option on the table for Illinois. And that would require an invitation to the new 32-team tournament sponsored by the NCAA.
But after a few days following the Maryland loss, it became clear to the Illini’s second-year coach her players wanted a postseason opportunity. And on Sunday night, shortly after the NCAA women’s tournament Selection Show wrapped up, Illinois announced it had received an at-large bid to play in the WBIT.
“I think initially after the loss to Maryland, everyone was upset,” Green said on Tuesday. “No one really wanted to think about that next step, but once we gave them a couple days off, this is a team that wants to compete. This is a team that now is going into this with, ‘Let’s go and try to win this thing. If we’re going to be in it, let’s go and try to win it.’ I can’t wait, and our team is really excited. Even our past week at practice has been super energized and there’s a lot of positive vibes and great energy, so I’m glad they’re excited to continue to play.”
Not everyone has followed the same line of thinking as Illinois.
Miami was announced as a No. 1 seed in the initial WBIT bracket on Sunday night, as the first four teams not to make the 68-team field for the NCAA tournament — which included Miami, Penn State, Villanova and Washington State — automatically qualified for the WBIT field and procured top seeds. But the Hurricanes, who posted a 19-12 record, “notified the WBIT that it was unable to participate in the tournament,” a later press release read. That meant James Madison replaced Miami as a No. 1 seed.
The Illini (14-15) are in the same eight-team section of the bracket with James Madison and will open up with a first-round game against Missouri State (23-9) at 6 p.m. on Thursday at State Farm Center. The first three rounds of the WBIT are on campus sites, with the second round this Sunday and the quarterfinals on March 28. The higher-seeded team hosts the preliminary-round games with Illinois a No. 4 seed. The semifinal games (April 1) and championship game (April 3) will take place at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus in Indianapolis.
“Obviously, our goal is always the NCAA tournament, but as we build this program, it’s been (16) years since the program has gone to (consecutive) postseasons (four straight WNIT appearances),” Green said. “So this is part of the stepping stone, and this tournament I’m really excited about now that it’s sponsored by the NCAA. It’s going to be run really well, and when you look at the 32 teams that are in it, there’s really good teams in this tournament. A lot of these teams probably should have been or could have been in the NCAA tournament. … So more opportunities for us to continue to get better and again build this program, which is what it’s about.”
Missouri State saw its NCAA tournament dreams end in heartbreaking fashion this past Sunday in Moline. The Bears lost on a buzzer-beater to Drake in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament with Anna Miller‘s layup sending the Bulldogs past Missouri State, 76-75, at the Hoops in the Heartland event and into the NCAA tournament. The third-seeded Bears rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to give top-seeded Drake a scare.
Missouri State has made 17 NCAA tournament appearances, mostly recently in 2022 when the Bears defeated Florida State in a First Four game before Ohio State eliminated them in the first round.
“Missouri State is a really good team,” Green said. “They’re a really good program. They’ve been one of the best mid-major programs in the country for a long time. … So this is a team that has won 20-some games. They’re well-coached and they’re going to be ready to go. That’s what this tournament is about. We have to play really good basketball. We also haven’t played in two weeks where they just played on Sunday, so I expect a little bit of rust early on, but just excited to compete again.”
