2013_Women's_National_Invitation_Tournament Knowpia

2013 Women's National Invitation Tournament
Season	2012–13
Teams	64
Finals site	Daskalakis Athletic Center; Philadelphia
Champions	Drexel (1st title)
Runner-up	Utah (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Kansas State; Florida;
Winning coach	Denise Dillon (1st title)
MVP	Hollie Mershon (Drexel)
Attendance	1,922 (championship game)
Women's National Invitation Tournaments
«2012	2014»

The 2013 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2013 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 20 and ends on April 6. All games were played on the campus sites of participating schools. It was won by the Drexel Dragons.^[1]^[2]

Participants edit

The following 64 teams are the teams selected to participate in the 2013 WNIT. 31 teams have earned automatic berths into the tournament from being the highest-ranked team in their conference that failed to make the NCAA women's tournament. 33 teams earned an at-large bid into the WNIT by having a winning record but failing to make the NCAA Women's Tournament.^[3]

Automatic qualifiers edit

At-large bids edit

School	Conference
Akron	MAC
Appalachian State	SoCon
Auburn	SEC
Ball State	MAC
Bowling Green	MAC
Butler	A10
BYU	WCC
Drexel	CAA
Duquesne	A10
East Carolina	C-USA
Eastern Washington	Big Sky
FIU	Sun Belt
Florida	SEC
Fordham	A10
Hartford	America East
Hawaii	Big West
Idaho State	Big Sky
Indiana State	MVC
Long Beach State	Big West
Marquette	Big East
Memphis	C-USA
Miami (OH)	MAC
Minnesota	Big Ten
Missouri	SEC
NC State	ACC
Northern Iowa	MVC
Old Dominion	CAA
Richmond	A10
Saint Mary's	WCC
Tulane	C-USA
UAB	C-USA
UCSB	Big West
Utah	Pac 12
Western Kentucky	Sun Belt
Wyoming	Mountain West

Final Four games edit

Utah faced Kansas State in one semifinal of the WNIT played at Kansas State. Utah appeared to be in control early on, leading 21–7 with eight minutes to go in the first half, and still led by 12, 35 – 23 with just under 14 minutes left to go in the game. Utah scored the 39th point with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the game, but did not score again in regulation; Kansas State scored eight straight to tie the game at 39 points apiece. Despite scored only 13 points in the second half, Utah then scored 15 points in the five minutes of overtime to only 7 for the Wildcats to win the game 54–46 to advance to the championship game.^[4]^[5] Michelle Plouffe was the leading scorer for Utah with 24 points.^[6]

In the other semi final, the Drexel Dragons faced the Florida Gators. The Dragons were behind early but scored 11 consecutive points to take a 10 point lead halfway through the first half. Florida pulled within five points in the second half, Drexel pushed the lead back up to double digits in maintain that lead almost all the rest of the game. Florida could lead to eight points in the final minute but Drexel hung on to win 67–57. Hollie Mershon had a double double with 28 points and 10 assists for Drexel.^[7]

In the championship game, Utah pulled out to a slim three point lead at halftime in a low-scoring game 24–21. Drexel reclaimed the lead in the second half, but Utah was up by a single point, 43–42 with less than a minute remaining in the game. Drexel Senior Holly Mershon hit a layup with 22 seconds left in the game to give the Dragons a one point lead. Utah failed to score then fouled Mershon who hit two free throws in the final seconds to seal the win. Mershon ended with 14 points while her teammate Taylor Wootton recorded 16 points including passing the 1000 point mark for her career. The final score was 46–43 giving the 2013 WNIT championship to the Drexel Dragons.^[8] Holly Mershon was named the tournament MVP.^[9]^[10]

Bracket edit

Region 1 edit

First round March 20–22		Second round March 23–25		Third round March 27–28		Fourth Round March 30

Washington	65

Eastern Washington	60
		Washington	78

		Pacific	85
Pacific	69

UALR	65
				Pacific	55

				Utah	60
Long Beach St	49

Utah	56
		Utah	61

		San Diego	50
San Diego	61

Hawaii	49
						Utah	58

						St. Mary's	55
San Diego State	69

UCSB	46
		San Diego State	58

		BYU	69
BYU	69

Idaho State	54
				BYU	55

				St. Mary's	59
Wyoming	63

Northern Colorado	71
		Northern Colorado	58

		St. Mary's	68
St. Mary's	68

Seattle University	51

Region 2 edit

First round March 20–22		Second round March 23–25		Third round March 28		Fourth Round March 30

Minnesota	51

Ball State	54
		Ball State	53

		Northern Iowa	48
Marquette	59

Northern Iowa	61
				Ball State	48

				Kansas State	60
Kansas State	72

Texas Southern	44
		Kansas State	57

		Illinois State	48
Illinois State	63

IUPUI	47
						Kansas State	66

						Illinois	48
Toledo	63

Butler	49
		Toledo	61

		Youngstown State	43
Youngstown State	63

Indiana State	51
				Toledo	55

				Illinois	63
Illinois	73

Miami (OH)	60
		Illinois	62

		Eastern Illinois	54
Missouri	58

Eastern Illinois	60

Region 3 edit

First round March 20–22		Second round March 23–25		Third round March 27–28		Fourth Round March 30

WKU	88^OT

East Carolina	77
		WKU	66

		Auburn	84
Auburn	80

UAB	57
				Auburn	72

				Tulane	52
Arkansas	67

Memphis	57
		Arkansas	48

		Tulane	60
Tulane	65

Sam Houston State	57
						Auburn	43

						Drexel	56
Drexel	59

Iona	50
		Drexel	82

		Harvard	72
Hartford	57

Harvard	61
				Drexel	50

				Bowling Green	47
Duquesne	71

Akron	66
		Bowling Green	61

		Duquesne	54
Bowling Green	76

SMU	70

Region 4 edit

First round March 20–22		Second round March 23–25		Third round March 27		Fourth Round March 30

Boston U	61

Sacred Heart	49
		Boston U	44

		Fordham	58
Fordham	55

Army	46
				Fordham	61

				James Madison	77
James Madison	77

North Carolina A&T	64
		James Madison	72

		NC State	66
NC State	60

Richmond	55
						James Madison	80

						Florida	85
Old Dominion	73

Davidson	82
		Davidson	60

		Charlotte	72
Charlotte	79

Appalachian State	61
				Charlotte	65

				Florida	67
FGCU	51

Winthrop	65
		Winthrop	53

		Florida	84
FIU	68

Florida	75

Semifinals and championship game edit

Played at host schools

Semifinals April 3		Championship Game April 6

Utah	54^OT

Kansas State	46
		Utah	43

		Drexel	46
Drexel	67

Florida	57

All-tournament team edit

Hollie Mershon, Drexel (MVP)
Taylor Wootton, Drexel
Michelle Plouffe, Utah
Taryn Wicijowski, Utah
Brittany Chambers, Kansas State
Sydney Moss, Florida

Source:^[11]

References edit

^ "Drexel Women Beat Utah 46-43 To Win WNIT Title". April 6, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
^ "Drexel Dragons Win 2013 WNIT Championship". womensnit.com. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
^ "2013 Postseason WNIT Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
^ "Utah - Kansas State gamecast". ESPN.
^ "Utah women advance to WNIT title game". www.ksl.com. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
^ "Utah - Kansas State boxscore". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021.
^ "WBB WNIT Championship". DrexelNow. April 4, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
^ "Utah vs. Drexel - Game Recap - April 6, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
^ "Drexel Dragons Win 2013 WNIT Championship". womensnit.com. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
^ "Women's Basketball Captures the 2013 WNIT Championship". Drexel University Athletics. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
^ "Drexel Dragons Win 2013 WNIT Championship". womensnit.com. April 6, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2022.