Women’s Basketball Opens WNIT Play Thursday at Southern Miss

The UALR women’s basketball team will begin play in its first ever Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Thursday. The team travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face the University of Southern Mississippi Lady Eagles (19-13) at 7 p.m. March 20. The winner of the game will face Mississippi State University. The Trojans enter the contest with a 23-8 overall record after clinching the team’s first-ever Sun Belt West Division title and recording school records of 23 overall wins and 14 conference wins. Thursday’s game will be the fifth meeting between Southern Miss and UALR; the Trojans lead the series 3-1. The last meeting between the two teams was on Dec. 7, 2006, in Hattiesburg; UALR won 70-49. UALR was one of two Sun Belt teams invited to the WNIT. Middle Tennessee State received an at-large bid.