Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell to Face Penn State in Opening Round of Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament
6/27/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
June 27, 2002
2002 Preseason WNIT Bracket in PDF Format
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 16-team field for the 2002 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament was announced on Wednesday, June 26, and the Bucknell University team was among those invited. The Bison will play Penn State on Friday, November 15, at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa., in first-round action.
The field for the prestigious tournament that kicks off the women's college basketball season includes teams expected to be ranked in the Top 25, such as Kansas Sate, Penn State, Colorado State and Mississippi State.
In addition to the Bison and the Nittany Lions, the event features 10 other teams who played in the postseason last year: Kansas State, Colorado State, Mississippi State, Syracuse, Ball State, Georgia Tech, San Francisco, Southern Cal, Siena and Southwest Missouri State.
In last year's tournament, top-ranked University of Connecticut began its undefeated season by winning the Preseason WNIT title with a victory over No. 3 Vanderbilt.
The meeting between Bucknell and Penn State marks the third time in history the two schools will face each other. The last time the Orange and Blue played PSU was in 1975, with BU dropping a 79-44 decision. This year's pre-season contest will feature two of the nation's top returning scorers. Penn State junior Kelly Mazzante and Bucknell senior Molly Creamer (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) enter the 2002-03 ledger as the first and fourth-highest scoring individuals in the country, respectively, from a year ago.
"We feel very honored and excited to have been selected to participate in the Preseason WNIT," said head coach Kathy Fedorjaka. "It is a great opportunity for the program and a testament to all the hard work and building of the program over the last five years. I know that our players and coaches loved the experienced of playing Baylor in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last season, and this will again allow us the opportunity to be on the national stage, playing one of the best programs in the country. We're extremely excited about our first round matchup with Penn State. The fact that they are a national caliber program and only an hour up the road from us is tremendous. It will be great for our fans, and so many of our players have already watch games in the Bryce Jordan Center, that it will be great for them to have the opportunity to play in it themselves."
Bucknell, which is appearing in the Preseason WNIT for the first time, ended its season with a school record 21 wins and 10 losses. It is the second-straight 20-win season for the program, and only the second in Bison history. The Orange and Blue captured the school's first-ever Patriot League title, defeating four-time defending league champions, Holy Cross, to snap the Crusaders 61-game home win streak over Patriot League opponents. Bucknell's season came to a close with an 80-56 loss to seventh-ranked Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
