The season isn’t over for the East Tennessee State women’s basketball team.
The Bucs accepted a bid to the Women’s Basketball Invitational on Sunday night. They’ll face Florida International on Friday at noon.
The eight-team tournament is being played at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and teams are guaranteed three games. Teams pay an entry fee to participate.
ETSU (23-9) enters the tournament needing one more victory to break the school record. The 17-win improvement from last year is the best in the country this season.
“We are excited to get an invite from the WBI and have the opportunity to play three more games in this memorable season,” said first year ETSU head coach Brenda Mock Brown. “In this past week of preparation as we anticipated a postseason opportunity, I have seen some of the highest levels of competition among our players since the beginning of the season. It was an indication of the hunger they have to continue the season and an appreciation for the rare air of postseason that we are in.
“We realize only 140 out of 361 NCAA Division I programs are still playing this time of year, and our aim is to make every minute count and continue representing ETSU in the best manner possible in the WBI. Our kids and staff have worked hard for the past seven months, and it’s gratifying to see them rewarded.”
FIU was 12-18 this season and went 7-13 in Conference USA games.
The winner of Friday’s game will move on to the semifinals, set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The loser drops into the losers’ bracket. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Other teams in the field are New Mexico State, Illinois-Chicago, Cal Baptist, North Dakota, Georgia Southern and Northern Illinois.
Joe Avento is the Sports Editor for the Johnson City Press and Kingsport Times News and has covered East Tennessee State University athletics and local golf since 1987.
