The University of Northern Colorado women’s basketball team will play the University of Texas San Antonio in the first round of the Women’s NIT Thursday in San Antonio, Texas.
The game begins at 5:30 p.m. MDT (6:30 p.m. CDT) and will be played at the Convocation Center on the UTSA campus.
The matchups and full bracket for the 48-team tournament were announced Monday afternoon. Games will be played at campus sites. The was announced Sunday evening. UNC and UTSA were among the 37 teams receiving at-large selections.
UNC is 15-15 this year following the regular season and Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Bears lost to Montana State 47-44 in overtime in a last week.
UNC is making its fifth appearance in the WNIT. The team played in the tournament in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019. Wyoming defeated UNC in the first round of the 2019 tournament, 68-60, in Laramie.
Bears coach Kristen Mattio said in a text message she is excited for the game.
“At this time of year, you are going against the top teams in the country in other conferences,” Mattio wrote.
UTSA (17-14) is a member of the American Athletic Conference as of this season. The Roadrunners were 10-8 in the AAC and also received an at-large selection. The team lost its most recent game March 12 to East Carolina in the AAC semifinals.
UTSA will play in the postseason for the first time since the 2008-09 season, according to the Roadrunners’ athletics website. That year, the Roadrunners made their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance after winning Southland Conference Tournament titles.
UTSA was a member of Conference USA last year. Senior forward Jordyn Jenkins was the Conference USA player of the year and newcomer of the year last season. She previously played at the University of Southern California.
Jenkins has played in 10 games this season, all late in the year. Jenkins scored in double figures in nine of those games and is averaging 15.1 points per game and 6.6 rebounds.
Three other players average in double figures in scoring: 6-foot-3 redshirt junior forward Elyssa Coleman (10.9 ppg, 8.0 rebounds); 5-9 senior guard Kyra White (10.2 ppg, 5.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists); and 5-8 freshman guard Aysia Proctor (10.0 ppg, 4.9 rebounds, 38.8% from 3-point range).
Mattio said the Roadrunners have a “solid balance of inside and perimeter play.”
“They are physical, disruptive defensively and can really rebound the ball well,” the coach added.
UNC’s Delaynie Byrne, a 6-3 senior forward, leads the Bears in scoring and rebounds (13.6 points, 8.0 rebounds per game). Senior guard Hannah Simental is the second-leading scorer with 12.4 points. Simental is also the Bears’ top 3-point shooter at 37.4%.
Sophomore Aniah Hall, a 6-3 forward, averages 10.0 points and 5.7 rebounds. Guard Seneca Hackley averages nine points a game and 6-1 freshman forward Tatum West averages 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Point guard Gabi Fields averages 6.1 points and 2.8 assists per game.
Hall, West and Fields are all from Texas. Hall is from Temple, which is between Waco and Austin. West is from Combine in the Dallas area, and Fields is from Brownfield near Lubbock.
The winner of the UNC-UTSA game advances to the second round against Wyoming (16-14) of the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming has a first-round bye.
Second-round games are scheduled for March 23-26.
The WNIT is composed of 11 automatic qualifying teams and 37 at-large programs, according to the tournament website, .
The 11 automatic qualifying teams are: Colgate (18-13) from the Patriot League, Grambling (22-9) from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Le Moyne (18-13) from Northeast Conference, Monmouth (21-9), from Coastal Athletic Association, Niagara (20-13) from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Northern Arizona (25-9) from the Big Sky, South Carolina Upstate (16-15) from the Big South Conference, Southern Indiana (24-6) from the Ohio Valley Conference, Stetson (17-14) from the Atlantic Sun Conference, University of Albany (25-6) from America East Conference and UNC Greensboro (21-11) from the Southern Conference.
Northern Arizona also has a first-round bye. The Lumberjacks play either South Dakota or the University of California Riverside in the second round.
Big Sky Conference member Montana (22-9) also received an at-large selection to the tournament. The Grizzlies host Boise State (21-13) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the first round.
The third round is scheduled for March 27-29. The quarterfinals are March 30-April 1, with the semifinals scheduled for April 2-3. The championship game will be played at 3 p.m. Eastern Saturday, April 6, and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
