March 16, 2009
2009 WNIT Bracket
DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women's basketball team has been selected to take part in the Women's National Invitation Tournament for the second straight year. The Flyers will travel to Rochester, Michigan for a match-up with the Oakland Grizzlies on Thursday, March 19. Game time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. It is Dayton's third ever appearance in the WNIT.
Dayton was an at-large selection and will face Oakland which had an automatic berth. The winner of the game will face Indiana in the WNIT Second Round on Sunday, March 22.
"I think it's a great step for our program to get into the WNIT," said head coach Jim Jabir. "It shows consistency in making it two years in a row. It's a great experience for our young kids and a great way to send out our seniors in playing in the postseason."
Dayton is in the midst of one of its best seasons in program history. The Dayton Flyers' 20-13 record is the second-best since turning Division I. The team's success is due in part to a young squad featuring six freshmen, three of whom start and two of whom are the top two options off the bench.
The Flyers are led by Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Justine Raterman (13.2 ppg and 8.6 rpg) and sophomore and Atlantic 10 Third Team selection Kristin Daugherty (12.5 ppg).
Dayton is listed with an RPI of 76 and a Strength of Schedule of 76 according to CollegeRPI.com. The Flyers finished with an overall winning record (9-8, including tournament games) in the highly-competitive Atlantic 10 Conference (the A-10 ranks 7th in RPI). The A-10 featured eight top 100 RPI teams more than the BIG TEN, PAC 10, and tied with the ACC. Dayton's overall schedule featured three games against nationally-ranked Xavier, two games against Richmond, and two games against Saint Louis. This resulted in one of the most difficult conference schedules in the A-10.
Dayton made just it's third-ever appearance in the Atlantic 10 Semifinals defeating #16/15 Xavier in the quarters. Eight schools from the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference made it into the postseason. Charlotte, Xavier, and Temple earned spots in the NCAA Tournament and Richmond, Duquesne, George Washington, and St. Bonaventure captured berths in the WNIT.
Check back at www.DaytonFlyers.com for more information regarding Dayton's WNIT First Round game.
