FARGO — The WNIT bracket is out and North Dakota State received a first-round bye. The Bison will play the winner of Wednsday's Boise State and Montana at a day and time to be announced. It doesn't necessarily mean the Bison will get a home game. Sources have indicated if it is at home that a donor is lining up to pay the NDSU WNIT guarantee and offer free gate admission to fans. "It doesn't guarantee you're hosting, in the fine print," said Bison head coach Jory Collins. "But we talked about it today as using this as a stepping stone for our program. We're in a good spot mentally and physically so as much growth as we can get while things are going good is really good for our program." The Bison are on the same side of the bracket as the University of Minnesota, which also received a first-round bye. The Bison finished 21-11, falling to South Dakota State in the Summit League title game. NDSU appeared to be an outside shot at a berth in the Women's
basketball Invitational Tournament, a new 32-team event funded by the NCAA. The WNIT announced on Sunday NDSU would be part of its tourney. Collins said his team practiced hard on Monday in anticipation of playing most likley on Thursday. Now that the schedule has changed, the Bison staff will sit down on Tuesday morning and map out another plan. "Hoping by mid-morning tomorrow we'll have more of a clarification on that day and if we really are hosting," Collins said. The WNIT field consists of 48 teams with all games played at campus locations. Last year's title game, Columbia at Kansas, drew over 11,000 fans in a game won by the Jayhawks 66-59. South Dakota State won the 2022 championship routing Seton Hall 82-50 in front of a sellout crowd at SDSU's Frost Arena, capping a tourney where the Jackrabbits were virtually unstoppable beating Ohio, Minnesota,
Drake,
Alabama, UCLA and Seton Hall by an average margin of 18.2 points The University of South Dakota took the title in 2016. Eleven teams were automatic qualifiers, although NDSU was not one of them. This year's championship game is set for April 6 and will be broadcast nationally by CBS Sports Network. The 2024 Postseason #WNIT Bracket 😍 pic.twitter.com/oe5WpS3F48 — WNIT (@WomensNIT) March 18, 2024 Read more from Jeff Kolpack Subscribers Only Sports Kolpack: Grant Nelson has the notoriety, his brother has a state title Devils Lake defeats Kindred giving Joel Nelson something Grant never had 1d ago · By Jeff Kolpack Prep Kolpack: Killdeer coach leaving a legacy with Little Buddy Foundation Greg Pruitt honoring legendary coach Don Meyer by helping children in need 3d ago · By Jeff Kolpack Subscribers Only Prep Kolpack: Initially opposed to 3-class hoops, time to embrace it Devils Lake is in its element, has a chance to break 99-year title drought 4d ago · By Jeff Kolpack Subscribers Only College College Insider: Valley City's Jeff Boschee has Pitt State surging into D-II tournament matchup with Dragons Also: Fargo's Zach Sandy gets win in goal for Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team. 4d ago · By Eric Peterson Share Share this article News reporting News reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags SUBSCRIBERS ONLY BISON MEDIA ZONE INFORUM BISMARCK FARGO By Jeff Kolpack Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national
Football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The
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