Syracuse, New Mexico start postseason with wins

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 – Syracuse and New Mexico won their opening games of the 2009 Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Syracuse (17-14) defeated Canisius 90-65 and advances to play Sunday at Bowling Green at 2 p.m. ET in the second round of the WNIT. Playing in the Postseason WNIT for the first time in school history, Syracuse made school history with its back-to-back postseason appearances. Canisius (24-9), which set a school record with 24 Division I wins, wraps up a season in which it finished second in the Metro Atlantic Conference.

In Wednesday's other game, New Mexico (23-10) defeated Southern (16-14) 72-44 to advance to the second round.

New Mexico, playing in the postseason for the 12th straight year, will host Nebraska (15-15) at 7 p.m. MT Wednesday, March 25 at the Santa Ana Star Center.

Southern played in its first WNIT in school history. The Jaguars finished second in the SWAC and earned the conference’s automatic berth to the WNIT.

The remaining 14 first-round games in the WNIT will be played through Saturday.

Round 1 Games
Wednesday, March 18
Syracuse 90, Canisius 65
New Mexico 72, Southern 44
Thursday, March 19
Dayton at Oakland, 6:30 p.m. ET
Butler at Duquesne, 7 p.m. ET
Central Connecticut State at Boston University, 7 p.m. ET
Coppin State at West Virginia, 7 p.m. ET
Chattanooga at Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET
George Washington at Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m. ET
SMU at La Tech, 8 p.m. ET
Portland at Portland State, 10:05 p.m. ET
Friday, March 20
Harvard at St. John’s, 7 p.m. ET
American at James Madison, 7 p.m. ET
Winthrop at Georgetown, 7:30 p.m. ET
Murray State at Arkansas-Little Rock, 8 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 21
UT Arlington at Oklahoma State, 3 p.m. ET
UC Riverside at Creighton, 8 p.m. ET
Round 2 Games
Saturday, March 21
Coppin State-West Virginia winner at St. Bonaventure, 1 p.m. ET
George Washington-Florida Gulf Coast winner at South Florida, 7 p.m. ET
Portland-Portland State winner at Oregon State, 10 p.m. ET
Sunday, March 22
Syracuse at Bowling Green, 2 p.m. ET
Dayton-Oakland winner at Indiana, 2 p.m. ET
Chattanooga-Kentucky winner at Wisconsin, 2 p.m. ET
Harvard-St. John’s winner at Hartford, 4 p.m. ET
American-James Madison winner at Richmond, 4 p.m. ET
Winthrop-Georgetown winner at Wake Forest, 5 p.m. ET
Arkansas-Little Rock-Murray State winner vs. Mississippi, time, site TBD following Round 1 game
Monday, March 23
Central Connecticut State-Boston winner at Boston College, 7 p.m. ET
UT Arlington-Oklahoma State winner at Arkansas, 8 p.m. ET
Butler-Duquesne winner at Marquette, 8 p.m. ET
UC Riverside-Creighton winner at Kansas, 8 p.m. ET
Tuesday, March 24
SMU-LA Tech winner at Illinois State, 8 p.m. ET
Wednesday, March 25
Nebraska at New Mexico, 9 p.m. ET