Lady Lions to host WNIT game

The Lady Lions learned Monday night they secured a spot in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament — and they got some more good news on Tuesday.

The Penn State women’s basketball team will host a WNIT game at 7 p.m. Friday inside the Bryce Jordan Center and, if it continues to win, it bid to host up to three more Lady Lions games. Penn State (19-10) will take on Ohio University (22-9) in the first round of the 64-team tournament.

This marks the Lady Lions’ first postseason appearance since 2014.

Penn State last appeared in the WNIT in 2010, when it fell to Hofstra in the first round. It appeared in only one other WNIT, in 1998, when it won the championship with a 59-56 victory over Baylor.

The Lady Lions had an outside chance at the NCAA tournament this season when they entered the Big Ten tournament in early March. Two tourney wins were expected to launch them into that conversation — but a 70-64, first-round loss to Minnesota put an end to that.

Still, Penn State ended its regular season by winning five of its last six games. Sophomore guard Teniya Page also earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, and senior Kaliyah Mitchell was an honorable mention.

Tickets for Friday’s game range from $12 (baseline) to $25 (courtside) for the public. Student tickets are free for the first round and $5 for the potential other rounds. The tournament runs through April 1.

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Lady Lions to host WNIT game."