2015 WNIT BRACKET
SAN FRANCISCO – After a decade-long hiatus, the San Francisco women's basketball team returns to the postseason, heading to the 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament for the first time since 2002.

The Dons are coming off a banner year, sporting a record of 19-13 and fresh off an appearance in the West Coast Conference championship contest. USF's first round opponent is Fresno State, who enters the postseason record of 22-9 and 13-5 in the Mountain West Conference.

"Making the NIT is huge for USF and it's a credit to how hard our players have worked over the last few years. It's an exciting time for our program," noted head coach Jennifer Azzi. "Fresno State has had a great season, and it will be a very challenging matchup. I think it's good that we've had experience playing there a year ago but certainly they are a tough opponent. Fresno State is athletic and a great defensive team – it's a very good matchup for us."

The last time USF tangled with the Bulldogs, the Dons turned in a record-setting performance. With swarming defense and sweltering shooting form the paint, USF capped last season's non-conference schedule with a 74-47 victory in Fresno on Dec. 20, 2013.

USF's 59.3 percent shooting in the game marked a new school record that stood for over 27 years. The Dons scored 62 points in the paint and shot an eye-popping 69.6 percent (16-of-23) in the second half to boost USF to the record. The win stands as the largest margin over a regular-season NCAA Division I opponent since the 1994-95 season.

USF seeks its first 20-win season since 1997's NCAA tournament season, and sees its fifth all-time appearance in the postseason. Should the Dons advance, USF would face the winner of conference rival Saint Mary's and Hawaii in the second round.

"We are thrilled to be back in the WNIT. Congratulations to the coaches, team and all who worked so hard to make this opportunity happen," said director of athletics, Scott Sidwell. "We are excited to take this important next step in building our women's basketball program to national prominence."

The Postseason WNIT is the second longest running postseason tournament in women's college basketball history behind the NCAA Tournament. Since its inception in 1998, the WNIT has afforded hundreds of opportunities for schools in every conference to play in the postseason.

WNIT games showcase the best of women's basketball, both with fan excitement (the 2009 championship was played in front of a Big 12 record 16,113 fans at Kansas) and level of play (teams that do well in the Post WNIT often make a huge jump the following year to performing well in the NCAA Tournament).

Last season, Rutgers used a last-second layup by Tayler Scaife to defeat UTEP in the championship game in front of a sellout crowd of 12,222 at the Don Haskins Center.
The 64-team tournament is a single-elimination event with all games played at sites of host schools. The tournament culminates with the nationally-televised championship game on CBS Sports Network. The tournament finale takes place on Saturday, April 4, at 12 p.m.

To keep up with all the action from the Dons all tournament long, visit usfdons.com/WNIT. Stay abreast through USF's social media channels - @donsathletics, facebook.com/donsathletics, instagram.com/donsathletics and via snapchat at the username donsathletics.
 
For information on tickets to Thursday's contest, contact Fresno State directly at 559.278.3647.

For more on the WNIT, visit www.womensnit.com, on facebook at facebook.com/womensNIT, via twitter @WomensNIT and through the hashtag #WNIT.