ARLINGTON, Texas –The UT Arlington women's basketball team's opportunity to play in the postseason and continue their historic season inside the College Park Center gets underway on Thursday, March 20, in the opening round of the WNIT when the Lady Mavs welcome Incarnate Word to the CPC for a 6:30 p.m. CT tipoff.
 
The game between the Lady Mavs and the Cardinals can be seen on ESPN+, heard live on the Varsity Network App with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours, and fans can follow along with live stats. Tickets start as low as $5 and can be purchased at UTATickets.com.
 
The winner of Thursday's game between UTA and UIW will take on North Texas in the second round. The date, time and location of that game will be determined at a later date.
 
LADY MAVS IN THE WNIT
UTA is participating in the postseason WNIT for the fifth time in program history (1999, 2009, 2017, 2019). This is the second time in program history that the Lady Mavs are hosting a postseason WNIT game, the first coming against SFA back on March 21, 2019.
 
The Lady Mavs are 1-4 all-time in the WNIT with their lone win coming last time they hosted when they defeated SFA 60-54. UTA fell to Baylor (71-60; 1999), Oklahoma State (82-72; 2009) and Tulane (62-53; 2017) in their other three first round matchups. In their lone second round game, the Lady Mavs fell to TCU (71-54; 2019).
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday will be the fifth all-time matchup between the Lady Mavs and Cardinals, with UTA holding a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series. The first-ever game came back in November of 1990 with the bulk of their matchups coming in the 2010s (2013, 2017, 2018). The Lady Mavs are currently riding a two-game win streak in the series and hold a 2-1 record in Arlington and a 1-1 record inside the CPC. UTA averages 76.75 points per game while holding UIW to 50.75 points per game in the all-time series.
 
SCOUTING INCARNATE WORD
The Cardinals come into the game carrying an 18-13 overall record, dropping their Southland Conference Semifinals game against the No. 1 seeded Southeastern Louisiana, 57-37. On the road, the Cardinals hold a 6-7 record and are winners of their last three road matchups. Incarnate Word averages 61.5 points per game while holding opponents to 59.1 points per game. The Cardinals shoot 40.2-percent from the floor for the season while shooting 30.2-percent from deep. UIW averages 35.6 rebounds per contest for the season while opponents average 33.9 rebounds per contest. UIW is led by Jorja Elliott who averages an even 10.0 points per game. Raimi McCrary leads the Cardinals with 5.7 rebounds per contest to go along with 8.1 points per game.
 
A LIL POSTSEASON HARDWARE
Avery Brittingham and Koi Love were named to the WAC All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Lady Mavs to their first-ever appearance in the WAC Championship game where they fell 65-62 to the No. 1 seeded Grand Canyon Lopes.
 
Before the WAC Tournament began, four Lady Mavs were honored with All-WAC selections: Brittingham (All-WAC First Team), Love (All-WAC First Team), Aspen Thornton (WAC Co-Sixth Player of the Year), Kendal Robinson (All-WAC Freshman Team).
 
The Lady Mavs, who have posted a 17-13 overall record to date and are fresh off a Western Athletic Conference Championship appearance received at at-large bid to host the opening round of the 2025 WNIT. UTA will participate in the postseason WNIT for the fifth time in program history (1999, 2009, 2017, 2019) and first-time hosting since 2019.
 
POSTSEASON WNIT
The Women's National Invitation Tournament is an annual tournament involving 64 of the nation's top women's Division I basketball teams. All games, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools. Every round is single elimination.
 
The Postseason WNIT features 32 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and the championship. The championship game is televised live nationally. The event offers 32 automatic berths, one to each established conference, and 32 at-large berths.
 
POSTSEASON WNIT HISTORY
The Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament began in 1998 with 16 teams playing for a postseason crown. The event has undergone four expansions throughout which its mission has remained the same: To give deserving teams a quality opportunity to play exciting games for a postseason title.
 
Following the inaugural year, the field doubled to 32 teams and remained that way until 2006 when a renewed commitment was made to schools. The WNIT expanded to a 40-team field to give spots to teams that won their regular-season conference title but did not win their conference tournament and therefore were excluded from the NCAA Tournament.
 
The WNIT furthered that commitment to conferences in 2007, when it expanded to 48 teams and awarded an automatic berth to each conference.
 
Round 1 schedule (all times CT)
 
Thursday, March 20
Army West Point (24-7) at Bryant (17-14), 4 p.m.
Campbell (21-12) at Coastal Carolina (23-8), 5 p.m.
Longwood (22-11) at Duquesne (19-12), 5 p.m.
Stonehill (17-15) at UMass (16-14), 5 p.m.
Lipscomb (20-11) at Western Illinois (16-16), 6 p.m.
Northwestern State (16-15) at Abilene Christian (20-12), 6 p.m.
Saint Mary's (14-16) at Texas Southern (16-15), 6:30 p.m.
UIW (18-13) at UT Arlington (17-13), 6:30 p.m.
Tulsa (17-14) at Lindenwood (21-10), 7 p.m.
New Mexico State (17-15) at Pacific (15-18), 8 p.m.
 
Friday, March 21
Siena (17-13) at Howard (21-11), 6 p.m.
UAB (16-15) at UIC (14-17), 7 p.m.
Utah Valley (18-12) at Air Force (18-14), 7:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 22
Navy (19-11) at Old Dominion (17-15), 1 p.m.
Alabama A&M (21-10) at Chattanooga (16-14), 1 p.m.
Coppin State (18-14) at Colgate (23-9), 4 p.m.
 
Round 2 in bracket order (dates, times, locations TBA)
 
Air Force/Utah Valley vs. Washington State (20-13)
Pacific/New Mexico State vs. North Dakota State (19-11)
UT Arlington/UIW vs. North Texas (24-8)
Chattanooga/Alabama A&M vs. Troy (20-13)
Abilene Christian/Northwestern State vs. Central Arkansas (23-9)
Western Illinois/Lipscomb vs. Illinois State (21-12)
Lindenwood/Tulsa vs. Tarleton State (20-13)
Texas Southern/Saint Mary's vs. Louisiana Tech (16-15)
UMass/Stonehill vs. Buffalo (25-7)
Coastal Carolina/Campbell vs. Southern Indiana (22-12)
Bryant/Army West Point vs. Rutgers (11-19)
Howard/Siena vs. College of Charleston (24-7)
Duquesne/Longwood vs. Miami (OH) (19-11)
Colgate/Coppin State vs. Cleveland State (24-9)
Old Dominion/Navy vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (25-8)
UIC/UAB vs. Butler (15-17)
   
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the women's basketball program on X (formally known as Twitter) (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).