CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Toledo Rockets and Ball State Cardinals were both selected to host the opening round of the 32-team Inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. WBIT first round action gets underway on Thursday, March 21, with the second round playing Sunday, March 24.

Quarterfinals will be held on Thursday, March 28 with four teams advancing to Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University for the semifinals on Monday, April 1. The WBIT will conclude with the inaugural championship game on Wednesday, April 3.

The 32-team WBIT field was announced Sunday night with regular-season Mid-American Conference Champion Toledo (26-5, 17-1 MAC), who earned an automatic bid and a No. 2 seed, set to host Cleveland State (29-5) at 7 p.m. ET. 

The Rockets entered the 2024 MAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third straight season as Toledo won three consecutive regular-season Mid-American Conference titles. The Rockets ended the regular season winners of its last 13 games, tied for the 11th-longest in the country, and is its longest since winning a school-record 17 in a row last season. 

The Cardinals (28-5, 16-2 MAC) are a No. 4 seed in the 32-team field and will host Belmont Thursday at 4 p.m. ET in Worthen Arena. Ball State will be making its ninth postseason tournament appearance under Ball State 12th-year head coach Brady Sallee. Ball State's 20-win season marks the seventh time within the last nine campaigns he has reach the 20-win plateau. The 28 overall wins and 16 MAC victories are both program records.