The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team received an at-large bid to play in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament and will begin their tournament journey next week for the first time since 2011.

First round matchups begin this week, but a first round bye means UW will play the winner of the University of Southern Indiana (12-17) and University of Illinois-Chicago (18-15) game — being played at 7:00 p.m. CT in Evansville Thursday.

The exact time and location of UW’s matchup will be revealed once the first round has concluded. There is a chance that the Badgers play next week’s game at the Kohl Center.

Despite finishing the season at 13-16 and ultimately being cast aside by Penn State University in the Big Ten Tournament,  the Badgers earned multiple marquee victories during their regular season. The tournament berth also comes partially due to the newly-created Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament which has replaced the WNIT as the new secondary tournament. The addition of the WBIT added an additional 32 teams to postseason play.

The bid serves as a sign of progress for a Badgers team that finished with its most wins since 2019. The Badgers have also eclipsed their previous season’s win count in each of the three seasons that head coach Marisa Moseley has spent at the helm.

Round two of the WNIT tournament is currently scheduled to be played between Mar. 23 and Mar. 26. The 48-team tournament sees 32 teams play in the first-round while 16 teams—UW among them—gain a first round bye.

UW’s last WNIT appearance in 2011 was Lisa Stone’s final year as head coach of the team. The 2011 squad finished the season at 16-15 and lost in the second round of the tournament to Illinois State University.

The Badgers have played in the WNIT seven times in their history and came away as tournament champions in 2000.