INDIANAPOLIS---The Gonzaga women's basketball team was selected as a top 16 team in the 32-team 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament field. The Zags will host UTSA on Thursday, March 20, in the McCarthey Athletic Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with a TBD tip time.
"We are really excited that we get to play in the Kennel again on Thursday," head coach
Lisa Fortier said. "We get to play in front of the best fans in the country again and we hope they will show up for us. We do our best to position ourselves to play in the post season, and our team has done enough to be able to achieve that. I think we have parts of our game we can continue to improve at and believe that our best basketball is still ahead of us."
First round play is scheduled for Thursday, March 20, with the second-round games taking place on March 23. Quarterfinals will be held on March 27 with four teams advancing to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., for the semifinals on Monday, March 31. The WBIT will conclude with the championship game on Wednesday, April 2. Illinois defeated Villanova, 71-57, to win the inaugural WBIT Championship in 2024.
First round action on campus sites featuring the top four seeded teams, which are the last four teams out of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, Virginia Tech, James Madison, Saint Joseph's and Colorado, facing N.C. A&T, Davidson, UAlbany and Southeastern La., respectively.
Other first round games include Texas Tech at Wyoming, UNI at Florida, Hawaii at UNLV, UTSA at Gonzaga, Oral Roberts at Missouri St., Marquette at Drake, Middle Tenn. at Belmont, Northern Ariz. at Arizona, Boston College at Villanova, Quinnipiac at Seton Hall, Portland at Stanford. Due to facilities conflicts, the higher seeded Minnesota, will travel to Toledo.
WBIT committee seeded only the top half of the 32-team field. The remaining 16 teams were placed into the bracket by the WBIT Committee as close to their area of natural interest as possible.
"The WBIT selection committee is excited to announce this year's tournament following the success of last year's inaugural tournament," said Barbara Burke, Former Deputy Director of Athletics, University of Iowa, and chair of the WBIT committee. "The selection committee did an excellent job of identifying and selecting an incredible competitive 32 team field. With 100 NCAA teams experiencing postseason competition in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship and Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament, speaks to the growth and excitement for women's basketball. The WBIT selection committee congratulates all 32 teams, and we look forward to a great WBIT tournament."
Preliminary round WBIT games will be televised on ESPN+, while the semifinals will be on ESPNU, and the finals will be on ESPN2. Additional WBIT information can be found on ncaa.com/WBIT.
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (8)**
2025 WBIT History Last
Conference Team Record *Yrs. Won Lost App.
America East UAlbany 26-6 First Appearance
American Athletic UTSA 26-4 First Appearance
Big West Hawaii 22-9 1 0 1 2024
Coastal Athletic N.C. A&T 19-11 First Appearance
Mountain West UNLV 25-7 First Appearance
Southland Southeastern La. 26-5 First Appearance
Sun Belt James Madison 28-5 1 0 1 2024
West Coast Gonzaga 22-10 First Appearance
** An institution automatically qualifies for the WBIT if it wins its league's regular season championship and is not selected into the NCAA Championship.
AT-LARGE BIDS (24)
2025 WBIT History Last
Team Conference Record *Yrs. Won Lost App.
Arizona Big 12 19-13 First Appearance
Belmont Missouri Valley 22-12 1 1 1 2024
Boston College Atlantic Coast 16-17 First Appearance
Colorado Big 12 20-12 First Appearance
Davidson Atlantic 10 19-13
Drake Missouri Valley 22-11 First Appearance
Florida Southeastern 16-17 1 0 1 2024
Marquette Big East 20-10 First Appearance
Middle Tenn. Conference USA 26-8 First Appearance
Minnesota Big Ten 20-11 First Appearance
Missouri St. Missouri Valley 25-8 1 0 1 2024
Northern Ariz. Big Sky 26-7 First Appearance
Oral Roberts Summit 24-8 First Appearance
Portland West Coast 29-4 First Appearance
Quinnipiac Metro Atlantic 28-4 First Appearance
Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 23-9 1 2 1 2024
Seton Hall Big East 22-9 1 0 1 2024
Stanford Atlantic Coast 16-14 First Appearance
Texas Tech Big 12 17-17 First Appearance
Toledo Mid-American 24-8 1 2 1 2024
UNI Missouri Valley 17-16 First Appearance
Villanova Big East 18-14 1 4 1 2024
Virginia Tech Atlantic Coast 18-12 First Appearance
Wyoming Mountain West 22-11 First Appearance
*Including 2025
FIELD BY CONFERENCE (20)
MVC 4 (Belmont, Drake, Missouri St., UNI)
ACC 3 (Boston College, Stanford, Virginia Tech)
Big 12 3 (Arizona, Colorado, Texas Tech)
Big East 3 (Marquette, Seton Hall, Villanova)
A-10 2 (Davidson, Saint Joseph's)
MWC 2 (UNLV, Wyoming)
WCC 2 (Gonzaga, Portland)
America East 1 (UAlbany)
American 1 (UTSA)
Big Sky 1 (Northern Ariz.)
Big Ten 1 (Minnesota)
Big West 1 (Hawaii)
CAA 1 (N.C. A&T)
CUSA 1 (Middle Tenn.)
MAAC 1 (Quinnipiac)
MAC 1 (Toledo)
SEC 1 (Florida)
Southland 1 (Southeastern La.)
Summit 1 (Oral Roberts)
Sun Belt 1 (James Madison)
