ASU women host 1st-round WNIT game

Arkansas State didn’t get an atlarge bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the Red Wolves will host a postseason game for the first time since 2007.

ASU (23-10) earned the Sun Belt Conference’s automatic bid to the WNIT and on Monday night the tournament announced the Red Wolves will open at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, taking on Western Michigan on Wednesday night. Game times will be announced today.

The announcement came two days after ASU lost to UALR in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game, when a victory would have landed it an automatic bid to its first NCAA Tournament. Coach Brian Boyer and the Red Wolves waited Monday for an at-large bid, hoping their No. 45 Ratings Percentage Index ranking and two victories over teams ranked in the top 31 would be enough.

It wasn’t, but just barely. The NCAA announced shortly after the field was revealed Monday that ASU was one of the first four teams left out of the field.

Now the Red Wolves will play in the WNIT for the second consecutive season. Western Michigan (20-12) lost in the Mid-American Conference Tournament to Buffalo. It is making its fourth WNIT appearance.

ASU last hosted the WNIT in 2007, when it beat Murray State.