Penn State Earns a No. 1 Seed in Inaugural WBIT

The Lady Lions return to the postseason for the first time since 2018.

The Penn State women's basketball team missed the NCAA Tournament but will return to the postseason for the first time 2018. The Lady Lions received a No. 1 seed in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament, a 32-team event sponsored by the NCAA.

Penn State (19-12) will host George Mason (23-7) in a a first-round game Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center. ESPN+ will stream early round games.

Penn State was in contention to reach its first NCAA Tournament since 2014 for much of the season but ultimately was among the first four out when the bracket was released Sunday. Coach Carolyn Kieger's team went 7-1 in January, winning six straight games, to push itself into the upper-third of the Big Ten. At one point, Penn State was 7-3 in the Big Ten and building a strong resume toward its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years. However, the Lady Lions lost six straight games after guard Tay Valladay sustained a season-ending injury against Minnesota on Jan. 31. They won three straight before falling to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament.

Penn State last played in the postseason in 2018, losing a first-round Women's NIT game to Radford in overtime. The Lady Lions will face George Mason for the first time since 2019.

What is the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament?

The WBIT is a new postseason event created, owned and funded by the NCAA. The 32-team tournament supersedes the Women's NIT as the secondary event after the NCAA Tournament.

"Women's basketball is at an all-time high with records being set for national championship and Final Four viewership, and the tournament was the most viewed since 2009," Jamie Boggs, chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Oversight Committee, said in a 2023 news release. "This tournament will create an additional NCAA-funded postseason opportunity for women's basketball, and it comes at a time when we are seeing tremendous growth in popularity for women's basketball."

Miami (Fla.), Villanova and Washington State are top seeds along with Penn State. The first three rounds of the 2024 WBIT will be played at campus sites of the higher seed. The semifinals and championship game will be held at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The semifinals are scheduled for April 1 and the championship game for April 3.

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