Of the 144 Division I women's basketball teams playing in a postseason tournament this weekend, the Gophers are the only one with a losing record.
That fact -- not to mention securing one, and perhaps two or more, home games -- is a victory for coach Pam Borton and her 15-17 team, which will take on 17-14 Charleston Southern from the Big South Conference in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational at 7 p.m. Friday at Williams Arena.
"It gives us an opportunity to play in March," said Borton, whose teams missed postseason play the past two seasons. "With our younger kids, [they] have not played in a postseason tournament, so for them, they need to learn how to win. They need to understand what this time of year is all about."
The desire to guarantee themselves a game, though, cost the Gophers their automatic berth in the Women's NIT. By owning the best record among Big Ten teams that weren't selected to the NCAA tournament -- conference tournament champ Purdue was joined by six at-large selections -- the eighth-place Gophers were in line to go to the more established WNIT.
But Minnesota officials, fearing they would be shut out of all three tournaments if they didn't move preemptively, negotiated their spot in the WBI before the NCAA (and WNIT) pairings came out.
"We would have loved to have them," WNIT director Renee Carlson said, "but they made some early decisions, and when they realized the WNIT was going to be an option, it was too late."
The 16-team WBI was established in 2010, and Minnesota will be the first Big Ten team to take part. The Gophers are seeded second in the East Region, and by winning Friday, would play the winner of Wednesday's game between third-seeded Bradley and No. 6 Tennessee Tech. The WBI's No. 1 seeds are Robert Morris (18-13) in the East, and Seattle (18-11) in the West.
