PORTLAND, Ore. – March is here for Portland Pilots women's basketball, as they've been selected to the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) for the first time in program history. They will play the 2-seed Stanford Cardinal on the road in Palo Alto for their first-round matchup.
This is the sixth straight year the Pilots have qualified for a postseason tournament and their first time playing in the WBIT. The Pilots have played in the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons, last year playing against the Kansas State Wildcats as a 13-seed. The Pilots have qualified for postseason play now 13 times in their program's Division I history, with seven NCAA Tournament appearances, three WNIT appearances and two WBI appearances to go with this qualification for the WBIT.
The WBIT is a 32-team tournament that was created ahead of the 2023-24 season. All NCAA Division I regular season conference champions qualify for the tournament, with the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament earning the automatic bid as well as one of the first four seeds in the WBIT tournament.
All first-round games will happen on Thursday, March 20. Should they advance, the Pilots will play the winner of the matchup between the Seton Hall Pirates and the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Sunday, March 23. The quarterfinals will take place on Thursday, March 27, with the final four teams remaining playing at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The semifinals are on March 31, followed by the championship on April 2.
The Pilots qualify after winning a share of the regular season title in the West Coast Conference for the first time since 1997 with a 29-4 record overall and 17-3 in WCC play. Their 29 wins were the most they've posted in a single season since the 1983-84 season and the most they've had as a Division I team. They were one of just 13 teams with at least 29 wins in all of NCAA Division I. Their 17 conference wins were also a program record. They've won at least 20 games in five of the last six seasons as well for four straight seasons.
The first round of the WBIT Tournament will take place on Thursday, March 20. Stay tuned to PortlandPilots.com for more information.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
• 1994 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to USC – 77-62)
• 1995 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to Purdue – 74-59)
• 1996 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to TTU – 61-78)
• 1997 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to Michigan State – 75-70 (OT))
• 1999 WNIT (1st Round Loss to Washington – 67-63)
• 2009 WNIT (1st Round Loss to Portland State – 57-51)
• 2010 WBI (1st Round Loss to Washington – 75-44)
• 2020 NCAA Tournament (Canceled due to COVID-19)
• 2021 WBI (Championship Loss to Cleveland State – 67-64)
• 2022 WNIT (2nd Round loss to Oregon State - 74-56)
• 2023 NCAA Tournament (1st Round loss to Oklahoma – 85-63)
• 2024 NCAA Tournament (1st Round loss to Kansas State – 78-65)
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