The Abilene Christian women’s basketball team has accepted an invitation to compete in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, according to an announcement from the tournament Monday afternoon.
The Wildcats also earned the right to host their first-round matchup in the 2025 Women’s NIT.
Abilene Christian will tip off its postseason play against the Northwestern State Lady Demons at 6 p.m. Thursday at Moody Coliseum.
The winner will advance to face the Central Arkansas Sugarbears in the second round of the Women’s NIT on March 23-25 at a to-be-determined location.
More: ACU Men’s Basketball: Wildcats bounced by Seattle U in WAC Tournament quarterfinals
More: ACU women’s basketball March Madness hopes dashed in surprise WAC tourney loss
“We’re very grateful for the opportunity to practice a few more days, to keep this team intact for a few more days and just put our best foot forward,” ACU head coach Julie Goodenough said in a statement.
“You have to play your best basketball in March, for sure, if you want to continue playing. Our goal is, with each practice opportunity we have this week, getting ready for the first round of the WNIT. We need to be sharp, we need to put the team first, we need to be the best version of ourselves and get ready for this first matchup.”
Abilene Christian will be making its first appearance in the WNIT since 2021 and its fifth appearance overall in postseason tournaments since moving up to the Division I level in 2013.
The Wildcats and Lady Demons used to compete as conference rivals in the Southland Conference from 2013-14 to 2020-21.
ACU holds a 6-2 all-time series lead against Northwestern State, including an 84-69 victory over the Lady Demons in February 2020 during their last meeting on the court. Abilene Christian is 4-0 all-time against Northwestern State in Abilene.
The Wildcats and Lady Demons snagged two of 37 at-large berths in the 48-team WNIT field, with 11 automatic berths rewarded to the top regular-season finishers in conferences that didn’t receive an automatic bid to the Women’s NCAA Tournament or WBIT.
Abilene Christian (20-12, 9-7 WAC) wrapped up one of its best regular seasons in recent history, marking ACU’s most wins, highest winning percentage and highest conference winning percentage since the 2019-20 season.
Here’s a closer look at the full 2025 WNIT bracket.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: ACU Women’s Basketball: Wildcats accept WNIT invite, will host Round 1
