Preseason WNIT Bracket in pdf.

Preseason WNIT Website

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The first piece of the 2011-12 women's basketball schedule was unveiled today as the Titans learned that they will play at Indiana State in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.

That nonconference affair will take place on Friday, Nov. 11, at the Hulman Center with tip-off slated for 8:00 p.m. (EST).

The game will be the sixth career meeting between the Titans and Sycamores, who last played on December 1, 2009, when Indiana State came away with a 70-53 victory in Terre Haute. Detroit leads the overall series, 3-2, but ISU has won the last two games. Indiana State finished the 2010-11 season at 16-16, 8-10 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The winner of the UDM-ISU contest will move on to face the victor of the Notre Dame-Akron match-up. The loser will move to a consolation bracket, where the eight remaining teams will be broken up into two groups, with a school from each group serving as the host site.

The 2011 Preseason WNIT field consists of 16 teams. Along with Detroit, the tournament will feature Akron, Baylor, Drexel, Eastern Tennessee State, Hartford, Howard, Indiana State, Long Island, Manhattan, McNeese State, Notre Dame, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, UAB and UCLA.

The Fighting Irish finished last season as the No. 2 in the nation advancing to the National Championship game. Another Final Four team, Baylor ended the year ranked No. 5, while UCLA was ranked No. 13 in the final poll. All told, nine of the 16 teams in next the field made a postseason tournament in 2011.

The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The tournament opens on Nov. 11 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played Nov. 13-14; semifinals will be Nov. 16-17; and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 20. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 18-19. All games are hosted by participating schools.