COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball was selected to play in the 2021 Women’s National Invitational Tournament on Monday, as the field of 32 teams were announced. It will mark the eighth WNIT appearance in program history and the eighth postseason appearance in the last nine seasons for the Tigers.
Mizzou will open the tournament in the Fort Worth regional against Fresno State on Friday, March 19 at 2 p.m. CT. Mizzou will then face the winner/loser of Arizona State / Rice game at either 11 a.m. CT or 5 p.m. CT, depending on the result. Mizzou has never faced Fresno State or Rice, and is 0-1 all-time against Arizona State, falling 69-54 to the Sun Devils on Nov. 11, 2005 in the WBCA Classic. The other four teams in the Forth Worth Regional include California Baptist, Houston, New Mexico and San Francisco. The Tigers have only faced Houston (2-0) and New Mexico (2-2) in their history.
This season’s tournament will feature 32 teams, with rounds 1-3 taking place March 19-23 at four regional sites: Charlotte, N.C., Fort Worth, Texas, Memphis, Tenn., Rockford, Ill. Each team will be guaranteed to play two games at each site, with an eight-team championship bracket and four-team consolation bracket at each location. The winners of each regional will advance to the semifinals and championship round, which will take place March 26/28 in Memphis, Tenn. All WNIT games will be streamed through FloHoops.
Mizzou will be making its fourth WNIT appearance under head coach Robin Pingeton, who will be making her seventh trip to the WNIT and 18th overall postseason appearance in her career. Before taking the reins in Columbia, Pingeton led Illinois State to back-to-back WNIT semifinals appearances in 2009 and 2010. Mizzou’s best run in the WNIT came in 2015 when Pingeton led to the round of 16 following wins over Northern Iowa and Kansas State. All-time, Mizzou is 5-7 in seven WNIT appearances.
Pingeton has now guided the Tigers postseason berths in eight of the last nine seasons, with WNIT appearances in 2013-15 and 2021, and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2016-19. Mizzou went 9-11 in 2020-21 with a NET ranking of No. 39 when the postseason fields were announced. The Tigers finished the season ranked atop the SEC and seventh nationally in field goal percentage at 48.1 percent (562-of-1,168).
Mizzou had two earn All-SEC honors for their contributions on the court during the 2020-21 campaign, as sophomore guard Aijha Blackwell (Berkeley, Mo.) earned Second Team honors and freshman guard Mama Dembele (Manlleu, Spain) earned Freshman Team honors.
Blackwell is looking to become the fifth Tiger in program history, and the first since 1997-98, to average a double-double as she is currently averaging 14.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Blackwell currently ranks third in the SEC and 18th nationally at 11.3 rebounds per game. Dembele has taken on the role of floor general in her debut campaign, as she remains the only freshman in the SEC to start every game of her team’s season. She is currently averaging 3.4 points, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game while boasting an impressive 1.3 assist to turnover ratio. Her 1.5 steals per game rank as the top mark among SEC freshmen.
For all the latest on Mizzou Women’s Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouWBB (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
Fort Worth Regional (All Times CT)
(In bracket order; designated home team listed second)
Round 1 – Friday, March 19
Game 1: Arizona State (11-10) vs. Rice (18-4), 11 a.m.
Game 2: Fresno State (16-10) vs. Mizzou (9-11), 2 p.m.
Game 3: San Francisco (15-10) vs. Houston (16-7), 5 p.m.
Game 4: California Baptist (24-0) vs. New Mexico (15-4), 8 p.m.
Round 2 – Saturday, March 20
Consolation: Losers Game 1 and 2: 11 a.m.
Consolation: Losers Game 3 and 4: 2 p.m.
Championship Semifinal: Winners Game 1 and 2: 5 p.m.
Championship Semifinal: Winners Game 3 and 4: 8 p.m.
Round 3 – Monday, March 22
Consolation Final: 4 p.m.
Championship Final: 7 p.m.
