| Teams | 32 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Missouri State (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | West Virginia (1st title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists | |||||
| Winning coach | Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Jenny Lingor (Missouri State) | ||||
| Attendance | 8,871 (championship game) | ||||
| Top scorer | Jenny Lingor (Missouri State) (116 points) | ||||
| |||||
The 2005 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2005 Women's NCAA tournament. It was the eighth edition of the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.
The final four of the tournament paired Missouri State against Iowa and West Virginia against Kentucky. Missouri State upended Iowa 89–80. Meanwhile, West Virginia and Kentucky played a double overtime thriller, which ended up with West Virginia winning 80–75.
The final pitted Missouri State and West Virginia against each other in Springfield, Missouri, as the Lady Bears hosted at the Hammons Student Center. The game was another close one for both teams, with Missouri State ultimately pulling out the victory for their 1st WNIT Championship, 78–70.
Bracket
Region 1
*Host • Source
| March 16–17 | March 19–21 | March 22–24 | ||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 62 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 73 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 65 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M-CC | 59 | |||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 52 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M Corpus Christi* | 56 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 60 | |||||||||||||
| Missouri State* | 62 | |||||||||||||
| SMU | 56 | |||||||||||||
| Missouri State* | 83 | |||||||||||||
| Missouri State | 85 | |||||||||||||
| Gonzaga | 66 | |||||||||||||
| BYU | 57 | |||||||||||||
| Gonzaga | 71 | |||||||||||||
Region 2
*Host • Source
| March 16–17 | March 19–21 | March 22–24 | ||||||||||||
| UNLV | 48 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 61 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 84 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 98 | |||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | 61 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas State* | 78 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 52 | |||||||||||||
| Iowa | 66 | |||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 66 | |||||||||||||
| Marquette | 57 | |||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 67 | |||||||||||||
| Iowa | 71 | |||||||||||||
| Creighton | 52 | |||||||||||||
| Iowa | 67 | |||||||||||||
Region 3
*Host • Source
| March 16–17 | March 19–21 | March 22–24 | ||||||||||||
| Illinois | 60 | |||||||||||||
| Indiana State | 72 | |||||||||||||
| Indiana State | 70 | |||||||||||||
| Xavier | 79 | |||||||||||||
| Xavier | 87 | |||||||||||||
| Western Kentucky | 85 | |||||||||||||
| Xavier | 62 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 67 | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 68 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 79 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 91 | |||||||||||||
| Chattanooga | 54 | |||||||||||||
| Villanova | 40 | |||||||||||||
| Chattanooga | 50 | |||||||||||||
Region 4
*Host • Source
| March 16–17 | March 19–21 | March 22–24 | ||||||||||||
| Charlotte | 75 | |||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 100 | |||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 78 | |||||||||||||
| South Florida | 63 | |||||||||||||
| Florida | 56 | |||||||||||||
| South Florida | 61 | |||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 52 | |||||||||||||
| West Virginia | 65 | |||||||||||||
| St. John's | 56 | |||||||||||||
| Delaware | 42 | |||||||||||||
| St. John's | 63 | |||||||||||||
| West Virginia | 68 | |||||||||||||
| Maine | 59 | |||||||||||||
| West Virginia | 74 | |||||||||||||
Semifinals and championship game
| WNIT Semifinals March 26–28 | WNIT Championship Game March 31, 2005 | ||||||||
| Missouri State | 89 | ||||||||
| Iowa | 80 | ||||||||
| Missouri State | 78 | ||||||||
| West Virginia | 70 | ||||||||
| Kentucky | 75 | ||||||||
| West Virginia | 80 2OT | ||||||||
All-tournament team
- Jenny Lingor, Missouri State (MVP)
- Kari Koch, Missouri State
- Yolanda Paige, West Virginia
- Meg Bulger, West Virginia
- Crystal Smith, Iowa
- Sara Potts, Kentucky
Source:
See also
- 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
- 2005 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
- 2005 National Invitation Tournament
References
- "MISSOURI STATE TAKES 2005 WNIT CROWN IN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- "Missouri State outlasts West Virginia in Postseason WNIT championship". wnit.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- ^ "2005 Postseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- "Missouri State outlasts West Virginia in Postseason WNIT championship". March 31, 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
| Women's National Invitation Tournament | |
|---|---|
| National Women's Invitational Tournament | |
| Interim | |
| Women's National Invitation Tournament | |