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Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
ACU women’s basketball to tipoff 2016-17 season at Missouri
6/13/2016 4:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ABILENE – The Missouri Tigers of the Southeastern Conference Monday were revealed as Abilene Christian's first-round opponent for the 2016 Preseason WNIT. Missouri and ACU will meet for the first time in program history on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. CT in Columbia with the winner receiving a second-round match vs. the winner of Nebraska and Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
"It's pretty exciting as we started our first day of camps to find out that our first game of the season is going to be against an SEC team and at Missouri," said Southland Conference Coach of the Year Julie Goodenough. "There are close to 350 schools in NCAA DI basketball and only 16 were invited to compete in this event so we consider it a privilege to be playing against teams that have and will go deep in the NCAA Tournament … again, the invitation to play speaks volumes about where our program is headed."
This game not only will serve as the 2016-17 season opener for the defending Southland Conference regular-season champions, but it also is the Wildcats' first game against an SEC school since Jan. 3, 1985 when ACU lost to Ole Miss at the Rainbow Wahine Converse Classic.
The Wildcats are 3-2 against current SEC member Texas A&M; however, all five of their games played between 1980 and 1985 took place when the Aggies were part of the Southwest Conference.
Led by head coach Robin Pingeton Missouri recorded its most successful season in the SEC last year, finishing 22-10 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was Missouri's first NCAA appearance in 10 years, and the Tigers are loaded for another run led by sophomore Sophie Cunningham (14 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and senior Jordan Frericks (12.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg).
In only their third year as a NCAA Division I program, the Wildcats went 26-4 overall last season thanks to the efforts of Southland Conference Player of the Year Alexis Mason and all-conference honorees Suzzy Dimba and Sydney Shelstead. ACU also returns senior forward Lizzy Dimba, plus reserves Sierra Allen, McKenzie Martin and Sara Williamson, while welcoming an exciting crop of five newcomers to Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats led the league from wire-to-wire this past winter in posting a 17-1 record, and clinched their first WNIT postseason appearance following a 66-58 home win vs. Incarnate Word. They won the league title outright three days later vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and challenged UTEP in their first-round WNIT defeat, 66-62.
UTEP (29-5) won the Conference USA regular-season title and was one of the last teams left out of the NCAA Championship bracket. The Miners rallied to beat the Wildcats during the final five minutes of regulation and later knocked off Arkansas State and TCU before falling to Oregon in the quarterfinals.
ACU and Missouri are two of several schools making their Preseason WNIT debuts along with Central Michigan, Elon, Fordham, Green Bay, Omaha and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It's the second time around for Eastern Washington (2005), Furman (1997), Little Rock (2009), Northern Texas (2006) and Washington (1994-champions).
Joining the event for the third time are Colorado State (1998-champions, 2002) and Nebraska (1997, 2004); Notre Dame is in the mix for the fifth time (1996, 2004-champions, 2007, 2011).
In the 2015 Preseason WNIT Championship, Baylor defeated DePaul, 86-72. Both teams later advanced to the NCAA Tournament with DePaul reaching the Sweet 16, and Baylor making it to the quarterfinals.
The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee, so if a team loses in the championship bracket before it has played three games, it will play in the consolation bracket. However, it's not known where ACU will play its consolation games should the Wildcats fall in the first round to Missouri.
Round two of the 16-team event will unfold Nov. 13-14; the semifinals are Nov. 17, and the Preseason WNIT Championship will be played at 3 p.m. ET, Nov. 20, with the contest being televised by CBS Sports Network.
A complete list of first-round games is listed below with all times local to site.
Friday, Nov. 11
Central Michigan at Notre Dame, 7 p.m. ET
Furman at Fordham, 7 p.m. ET
North Texas at Little Rock, 6:30 p.m. CT
Abilene Christian at Missouri, 7 p.m. CT
Elon at Green Bay, 7 p.m. CT
Omaha at Colorado State, 7 p.m. MT
Eastern Washington at Washington, 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, Nov. 12
UTRGV at Nebraska, 1 p.m. CT
About the WNIT
The Preseason WNIT began in its modern form in 1994. Since its inception, more than 200 teams representing all 32 conferences have competed in the tournament. The UConn Huskies have won the championship a record three times. It is organized and produced by Triple Crown Sports, a national sports event company based in Fort Collins, Colo. For more information on the WNIT visit: www.womensnit.com.
"It's pretty exciting as we started our first day of camps to find out that our first game of the season is going to be against an SEC team and at Missouri," said Southland Conference Coach of the Year Julie Goodenough. "There are close to 350 schools in NCAA DI basketball and only 16 were invited to compete in this event so we consider it a privilege to be playing against teams that have and will go deep in the NCAA Tournament … again, the invitation to play speaks volumes about where our program is headed."
This game not only will serve as the 2016-17 season opener for the defending Southland Conference regular-season champions, but it also is the Wildcats' first game against an SEC school since Jan. 3, 1985 when ACU lost to Ole Miss at the Rainbow Wahine Converse Classic.
The Wildcats are 3-2 against current SEC member Texas A&M; however, all five of their games played between 1980 and 1985 took place when the Aggies were part of the Southwest Conference.
Led by head coach Robin Pingeton Missouri recorded its most successful season in the SEC last year, finishing 22-10 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was Missouri's first NCAA appearance in 10 years, and the Tigers are loaded for another run led by sophomore Sophie Cunningham (14 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and senior Jordan Frericks (12.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg).
In only their third year as a NCAA Division I program, the Wildcats went 26-4 overall last season thanks to the efforts of Southland Conference Player of the Year Alexis Mason and all-conference honorees Suzzy Dimba and Sydney Shelstead. ACU also returns senior forward Lizzy Dimba, plus reserves Sierra Allen, McKenzie Martin and Sara Williamson, while welcoming an exciting crop of five newcomers to Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats led the league from wire-to-wire this past winter in posting a 17-1 record, and clinched their first WNIT postseason appearance following a 66-58 home win vs. Incarnate Word. They won the league title outright three days later vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and challenged UTEP in their first-round WNIT defeat, 66-62.
UTEP (29-5) won the Conference USA regular-season title and was one of the last teams left out of the NCAA Championship bracket. The Miners rallied to beat the Wildcats during the final five minutes of regulation and later knocked off Arkansas State and TCU before falling to Oregon in the quarterfinals.
ACU and Missouri are two of several schools making their Preseason WNIT debuts along with Central Michigan, Elon, Fordham, Green Bay, Omaha and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It's the second time around for Eastern Washington (2005), Furman (1997), Little Rock (2009), Northern Texas (2006) and Washington (1994-champions).
Joining the event for the third time are Colorado State (1998-champions, 2002) and Nebraska (1997, 2004); Notre Dame is in the mix for the fifth time (1996, 2004-champions, 2007, 2011).
In the 2015 Preseason WNIT Championship, Baylor defeated DePaul, 86-72. Both teams later advanced to the NCAA Tournament with DePaul reaching the Sweet 16, and Baylor making it to the quarterfinals.
The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee, so if a team loses in the championship bracket before it has played three games, it will play in the consolation bracket. However, it's not known where ACU will play its consolation games should the Wildcats fall in the first round to Missouri.
Round two of the 16-team event will unfold Nov. 13-14; the semifinals are Nov. 17, and the Preseason WNIT Championship will be played at 3 p.m. ET, Nov. 20, with the contest being televised by CBS Sports Network.
A complete list of first-round games is listed below with all times local to site.
Friday, Nov. 11
Central Michigan at Notre Dame, 7 p.m. ET
Furman at Fordham, 7 p.m. ET
North Texas at Little Rock, 6:30 p.m. CT
Abilene Christian at Missouri, 7 p.m. CT
Elon at Green Bay, 7 p.m. CT
Omaha at Colorado State, 7 p.m. MT
Eastern Washington at Washington, 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, Nov. 12
UTRGV at Nebraska, 1 p.m. CT
About the WNIT
The Preseason WNIT began in its modern form in 1994. Since its inception, more than 200 teams representing all 32 conferences have competed in the tournament. The UConn Huskies have won the championship a record three times. It is organized and produced by Triple Crown Sports, a national sports event company based in Fort Collins, Colo. For more information on the WNIT visit: www.womensnit.com.
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