Indiana women's basketball finished fourth in the Big Ten just as it did a season ago but failed to qualify for back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
IU will instead play Ball State in the WNIT on Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The winner will advance to play the victor of IUPUI-St. Louis in the second round.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to be selected to compete in the WNIT,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said in a statement. “To make the postseason for the second time in three seasons and back-to-back seasons since we joined the NCAA umbrella in 1981-82 is a tremendous feat for us. Postseason play is the main goal of this program, and gives us the building blocks for where this program is going.” We are even more excited to host postseason basketball in newly renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and for our crowd to help us make a deep run in this tournament. “
The NCAA Tournament selection committed opted to include Maryland (No. 3), Ohio State (No. 5), Michigan State (No. 9) and Purdue (No. 9) in the tournament field.
Generally speaking, it appears the committee did not think highly of the Big Ten as a whole. Michigan, who finished third in the conference, also missed out on the big dance and will settle for the WNIT.
IU went 20-10 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten to claim a No. 4 seed in the conference, just like last year's NCAA Tournament team, but a lack of quality wins ultimately left too much ground to make up. The Hoosiers were not listed as one of the first four teams not to make the field, which implies they simply left themselves with too much ground to make up.
The perceived weakness of the Big Ten didn't help much either.
A late-season road loss to Big Ten bottom feeder Nebraska and a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal loss to Purdue didn't help much either. Singular losses in a vacuum don't crush a season, but Indiana would have no doubt been better off with one or two less losses.
Indiana made it clear that its goal this season was to return to the NCAA Tournament and continue to build the program into a perennial contender. Instead, the Hoosiers will be a favorite to win the WNIT in their eighth tournament appearance.
IU last participated in the WNIT in 2013-14, former IU head coach Curt Miller's final season, and managed to win a couple of games.
This will be Moren's first WNIT appearance as a Hoosier and third overall, including her two trips with Indiana State.
Ball State went 21-10 overall and 14-4 in the MAC this season but also failed to qualify for the NCAA field. The Cardinals are riding back-to-back losses, including a first-round defeat to Buffalo in the MAC Tournament.
