TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament began in 1998 with 16 teams playing for a postseason crown. The event has undergone four expansions throughout which its mission has remained the same: To give deserving teams a quality opportunity to play exciting games for a postseason title.

Following the inaugural year, the field doubled to 32 teams and remained that way until 2006 when a renewed commitment was made to schools. The WNIT expanded to a 40-team field to give spots to teams that won their regular-season conference title but did not win their conference tournament and therefore were excluded from the NCAA Tournament.

The WNIT furthered that commitment to conferences in 2007, when it expanded to 48 teams and awarded an automatic berth to each conference. The number of at-large berths remained at 17 until 2010, when the WNIT felt that the level of women's basketball warranted an expansion to the 64-team field.

Here is a year-by-year overview:
  • 1998 - The Postseason WNIT began in March of 1998 and involved 16 teams from around the country. Penn State defeated Baylor in Waco, Texas in front of 10,057 extremely vocal hometown fans. Attendance for the two semifinal games and championship game averaged 7,970 spectators per game.
  • 1999 - The event was expanded to involve 32 schools. Arkansas and Wisconsin drew a WNIT record 14,161 women's basketball fans for the championship matchup at Arkansas.
  • 2000 - The tournament saw Wisconsin reach the championship game for the second year in a row. This time, however, Wisconsin was victorious against Florida in front of a crowd of 13,006 fans in Madison, Wis.
  • 2001 - Ohio State overcame a 12-point deficit against New Mexico to beat the host Lobos at The Pit in front of 18,018 fans. This championship game sold out eight hours after tickets went on sale to the general public. The sell-out was the third fastest in the history of the facility.
  • 2002 - Oregon scored with 2.4 seconds remaining to give Oregon the Women's NIT championship with a 54-52 victory over Houston before a season-high 6,835 fans at McArthur Court at Eugene, Ore.
  • 2003 - Auburn overcame a six-point Baylor lead in the final two and a half minutes to win the championship game. Auburn edged Baylor 64-63 in front of a deafening crowd of 7,314 at Waco, Texas. The winning basket came with 3.2 seconds left in the contest.
  • 2004 - Creighton dominated UNLV from start to finish for a 73-52 victory in front of 4,180 fans in Omaha. This was the second largest home crowd in school history for Creighton.
  • 2005 - Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) defeated West Virginia 78-70 in the championship. A sellout crowd of 8,870 vocal fans witnessed the final game for the team before the school changed its name to Missouri State. Jenny Lingor set the WNIT scoring record with 116 points in five games and the team made a WNIT record 58 3-pointers during their tournament run.
  • 2006 - Kansas State overcame a one-point halftime deficit and Marquette's hot 3-point shooting to win the WNIT championship. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 13,340 - at the time the third largest in WNIT history.
  • 2007 - In the 10th year of the Postseason WNIT, Wyoming rolled with six straight wins, including a 72-56 victory over Wisconsin in the championship. The entire state of Wyoming got behind the Cowgirls, as they sold out the final game in less than 10 hours, and drew 52,541 fans for the entire event, including 15,462 for the championship.
  • 2008 - Marquette beat the odds and became the first team to win three road games in the Postseason WNIT. The Golden Eagles topped Michigan State 81-66 in front of 7,818 fans at the Breslin Center to capture their first postseason championship.
  • 2009 - South Florida relied on veteran leadership and took a cue from the 2008 Marquette team to win three straight road games, including a championship at Kansas. South Florida edged the Jayhawks 75-71 in front of a Kansas and Big 12 conference record-setting crowd of 16,113 fans at venerable Allen Fieldhouse.
  • 2010 - California won six straight games, including two on the road, to capture its first national title. The Golden Bears defeated Miami 73-61 in a championship game that showcased some of the nation's best up-and-coming players.
  • 2011 - Toledo steamrolled its way to a championship that energized the entire community. The Rockets hosted all six games, defeating Delaware, Auburn, Alabama, Syracuse, Charlotte, and USC. Toledo sold out its semifinal and championship games at more than 7,000 fans each, which set school and conference attendance records.
  • 2012 - Oklahoma State wrapped up an emotional season that started with the Cowgirls losing head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna in a plane crash. The season ended with an amazing storybook finish as the Cowgirls won six straight games, defeating JMU 75-68 in the championship to win the Postseason WNIT title.
  • 2013 - Drexel hit a go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left, then added two free throws in the final seconds to seal the 46-43 victory for the Dragons. It was the first Postseason WNIT title for a Colonial Athletic Association team.
  • 2014 - Rutgers' Tyler Scaife drove the length of the court and hit a layup with 2 seconds on the clock to give the Scarlet Knights a 56-54 victory and their first Postseason WNIT championship. Rutgers defeated UTEP in front of a capacity crowd of 12,222 at the Don Haskins Center, which sold out in less than two hours.
  • 2015 - Freshman Jordin Canada led a young UCLA team with 31 points and a critical steal and free throws with 19 seconds left to send UCLA to a 62- 60 back-and-forth victory over host West Virginia. The Bruins defeated Michigan in the semifinals, while West Virginia edged Temple in overtime in the other semifinal.
  • 2016 - In front of a school-record crowd of 7,415 fans watching the final basketball game at the DakotaDome before a new arena was built, the University of South Dakota held off Florida Gulf Coast 71-65 in a team-oriented victory. FGCU had pulled within 2 points at 53-51 with 5 minutes left in the game, but USD stepped up on both ends of the court to wrap up the title.
  • 2017 - Katelynn Flaherty drained two clutch 3-pointers in the final stretch of regulation to send Michigan and Georgia Tech into the first overtime championship game in Postseason WNIT history. The game, which was hosted by Michigan but played at Detroit Mercy, ended up needing three overtimes before Michigan - which had advanced to the WNIT semifinals three straight years - captured its first postseason title in program history with an 89-79 victory over Georgia Tech.
  • 2018 - Playing before an all-time record crowd at Indiana of 13,007 fans at Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers used their momentum along with the skills of seniors Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill to defeat Virginia Tech 65-57. Indiana had led most of the game until Virginia Tech clawed back for a 1-point lead with 10 minutes to go. But then fans watched as Indiana underclassmen combined with Buss and Cahill - two of the best players to ever play at Indiana - charge back to claim their first postseason title.
  • 2019 - In front of a Pac-12 record sellout crowd of 14,644 at McKale Center in Tucson, host Arizona clamped down defensively to build a big lead and storm past Northwestern to win the championship. It was the fourth-largest single-game attendance total in WNIT history, and signaled a new era for Arizona's program.
  • 2020 - The Postseason WNIT was canceled due to COVID-19.
  • 2021 - Nancy Mulkey was an all-category force for Rice, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots to guide the Owls to a 71-58 victory over Ole Miss in the championship game of the 2021 Postseason WNIT.
  • 2022 - Led by Tournament MVP Myah Selland, who averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds, South Dakota State knocked off Seton Hall, 82-50, in the championship game in front of a sellout crowd of 5,263 at Frost Arena. South Dakota State defeated Ohio, Minnesota, Drake, Alabama, UCLA and Seton Hall en route to the Postseason WNIT Title, and had an average margin of victory of 18.2 points.
  • 2023 - Led by Taiyanna Jackson and Zaikyah Franklin, Kansas knocked off Columbia, 66-59, in the championship game in front of a raucous crowd of 11,701 at Allen Fieldhouse. The game marked the largest attended KU women's basketball game since the team's 2009 WNIT championship match against University of South Florida. 
  • 2024 - The WNIT continued to provide more postseason opportunities for teams with a 48-team field in 2024. Saint Louis got 20 points from Kyla McMakin and 19 more from Tournament MVP, Peyton Kennedy, with the Billikens defense muscling up when it mattered most as SLU took down Minnesota, 69-50, to win the championship game of the 2024 Postseason WNIT.
  • 2025 - Buffalo erased an 11-point second half deficit to claim the 2025 Postseason WNIT Title in front of 5,650 fans at Alumni Arena, a women's basketball attendance record for the Bulls. Chellia Watson earned Tournament MVP honors with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Did you know?
  • The Postseason WNIT is the longest current running postseason event for women's college basketball, in addition to the NCAA Tournament.
  • In existence since 1998, the WNIT has afforded hundreds of opportunities for schools in every conference to play in the postseason.
  • The WNIT expanded from 16 teams in the initial year to 64 teams in 2010. The WNIT is a huge supporter of women's basketball, and has demonstrated consistency, tradition, and staying power throughout the years.
  • The WNIT is committed to all established conferences. It is the only men's or women's postseason tournament - other than the NCAA - to offer an automatic berth to each of the 32 established conferences.
  • 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).
  • Everyone wants home games, and the WNIT makes hosting affordable for all teams. Teams can host in the first round for a guarantee of $5,000 a game. They can host in the second round for $10,000 a game.
  • The WNIT helps offset those costs and assumes all risk for high-cost travel. Teams pay no more than $15,000 combined for all of their road games in the Postseason WNIT. This allows teams to budget for their postseason play and doesn't penalize them for winning.
  • Early-round pairings are regionalized as much as possible in order to minimize missed class time and travel costs.
  • The WNIT's travel agents are always available to help teams late at night and on the weekends to secure travel for the next round.
  • The championship game is televised live to a national audience every year, because the WNIT is financially committed to promoting women's basketball.
Past Champions
2025 - Buffalo
2024 - Saint Louis
2023 - Kansas
2022 - South Dakota State
2021 - Rice
2020 - No tournament due to COVID-19
2019 - Arizona
2018 - Indiana
2017 - Michigan
2016 - South Dakota
2015 - UCLA
2014 - Rutgers
2013 - Drexel
2012 - Oklahoma State
2011 - Toledo
2010 - California
2009 - South Florida
2008 - Marquette
2007 - Wyoming
2006 - Kansas State
2005 - Missouri State
2004 - Creighton
2003 - Auburn
2002 - Oregon
2001 - Ohio State
2000 - Wisconsin
1999 - Arkansas
1998 - Penn State