Women's Basketball to Play UCF in 2010 Preseason WNIT First Round
Thursday, June 24, 2010 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team will play host to UCF in the opening round of the 16-team 2010 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament, as the pairings for the event were announced.
The Gators and Knights will square off on Sat., Nov. 13, with the start time to be solidified once the kick-off time has been set for Florida's football game against South Carolina, also scheduled to be playing in Gainesville that day.
“It's a great field, real competitive,” said UF head coach Amanda Butler, who has guided the Gators to a postseason berth in each of her first three years. “We're excited to have the opportunity to be competing in such a diverse and competitive field. This will be a great experience for us, especially having such a young team. They will get valuable game experience against quality opponents early in the season.”
Florida's 2010-11 squad will be a young one featuring just one senior and three juniors. In all, six letterwinners return from last year's team that earned a Postseason WNIT berth. The Gators also welcome six newcomers.
UCF, which won the 2009 Conference USA Tournament, returns all five starters from last year. The Knights, who are led by head coach Joi Williams, a former Gator assistant coach, have five seniors on their 2010-11 roster.
This is the second time the Gators will play in the preseason event. Florida advanced to the semifinals of the 1998 tournament, winning the semifinal consolation game at the final site for a third-place finish.
The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The event opens Nov. 12-13 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played Nov. 14-15; semifinals will be Nov. 17-18; and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 21. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 19-20. All games are hosted by participating schools, and sites are announced by the end of the preceding round.
In last year's Preseason WNIT, Ohio State defeated Oklahoma State 93-72.
2010 Preseason WNIT First-Round Pairings
(all 2009-2010 team records in parentheses)
Friday, Nov. 12, 2010
Austin Peay (15-18) at Purdue (15-17), 5 p.m. ET
St. Francis PA (17-15) at Toledo (25-9), 7 p.m. ET
Hampton (20-12) at JMU (26-7), 7 p.m. ET
Lamar (26-8) at Missouri State (22-11), 7:05 p.m. ET
Valparaiso (9-21) at DePaul (21-12), 8 p.m. ET
Utah Valley (10-22) at South Dakota State (22-11), 8 p.m. ET
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010
Central Florida (11-16) at Florida (15-17), time TBA
Iona (18-14) at Charlotte (18-14), 5 p.m. ET
For more information, visit www.womensnit.com, the WNIT official website.
-UF-
