Lady Bears Earn WBIT Bid, Will Travel to Illinois for First Round

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Missouri State women’s basketball (23-9) will take on the University of Illinois (14-15) in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, the organization announced today. 
 
The Lady Bears and Fighting Illini will face off on Thursday, March 21 in Champaign, Ill. 
 
This marks the inaugural WBIT, which is an annual 32-team postseason invitation tournament for women’s basketball owned and funded by the NCAA. The bid secures a ninth-straight postseason tournament appearance for the Lady Bears, excluding the 2019-20 Covid season. 
 
Missouri State owns a 23-9 record this season and finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season standings with a 15-5 conference ledger. The Lady Bears secured their seventh consecutive 20-win season and made it to the MVC Championship game before falling at the buzzer to the top-seeded Drake Bulldogs.  
 
Illinois is 14-15 on the season and owned an 8-10 record in Big Ten games. The Fighting Illini fell to Maryland in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. 
 
More information on game time and purchasing tickets will be available at a later time.