It was announced Tuesday that the Eastern women’s basketball team has been invited to participate in the preseason WNIT, held during the opening weeks of the 2009-10 season.

The Panthers are scheduled to kick off the season with a trip to Ohio State in the first round of the WNIT on Nov. 13. The game will mark Eastern’s first appearance in the preseason WNIT, as well as the first meeting with the Buckeyes.

The last time Ohio State appeared in the tournament was in 2004, when the Buckeyes lost to Notre Dame in the championship game.

Even with an incoming freshmen class that has received national recognition, the Panthers will have their work cut out for them in Columbus. Ohio State has been ranked as high as third in the country in early preseason polls. The Buckeyes advanced to the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. For 2009, they return two-time Big Ten player of the year Jantel Lavender and Big Ten freshmen of the year Samantha Prahalis.

Eastern was chosen to represent the OVC in the annual tournament after the Panthers posted a historic 24-9 record last season. The team’s 24 wins were the most in school history in the Division I era.

Despite their impressive resume (the Panthers reached the championship game of the OVC Tournament), the team was not invited to a national postseason tournament. Eastern had the most victories of any team left out of the postseason.

The 2009 preseason WNIT features 16 teams from 16 different conferences that were included by invitation-only. The field includes 11 teams that played in the postseason last spring: Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Tech, Marist, New Mexico, North Carolina A&T, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Winthrop. They are joined by Eastern, Chicago State, Northern Colorado, Towson, and UTEP to round out the field.

All games in the tournament will be hosted by participating institutions.

The opening-round game with the Buckeyes is the first of three guaranteed for the Panthers in the WNIT. If they should win the opener, they will advance to the second round to face either Bowling Green or Chicago State.

Due to the guarantee that participating teams will play three contests, the tournament follows an interesting format. The winners in each round will continue on in traditional bracket play. The final two teams will play a fourth game that serves as the championship round.

The eight losing teams from the first-round games will be re-grouped into “consolation bracket quads,” which are two four-team pools. One team from each pool will be selected after the first round to host the other three teams. Each team in this consolation round will play two games, referred to as consolation rounds one and two.

The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals of the winner’s bracket will play a third game, referred to as consolation round three, against one of the other quarterfinal losers.

The tournament will run for ten days from Nov. 13 through the championship game on Nov. 22, the second Sunday of the regular season.

North Carolina won last year’s preseason WNIT with a thrilling 80-79 victory over Oklahoma in the championship game featuring two top-5 teams.

The last OVC team to be invited to the tournament was Samford in 2007. The Bulldogs lost in the first round at fifth-ranked LSU, but were selected to host the ensuing consolation rounds. Other OVC teams that have competed in the preseason WNIT include Southeast Missouri State (2003), Eastern Kentucky (2001), Tennessee Tech (1997), and Austin Peay (1996).

Jeff Jurinek can be reached at 581-7943 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.