The co-Big West champion UCSB women’s basketball team will play in its 14th postseason in the last 15 years after receiving a bid into the postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Monday.
The Gauchos, 19-11 overall, will play at USC on Thursday. Game times will be announced by the WNIT on Tuesday. USC finished its regular season 19-12 and fell to Arizona in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals.
“We are thrilled to have been invited to play in the WNIT and we’re looking forward to playing a vaery talented USC team,” said UCSB head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who has now made the postseason in two of her three seasons as the Gauchos’ head coach. “Mostly, I’m excited for our players, a group of young women who worked very hard and put together a season worthy of a postseason invite.”
UCSB, which has won seven of its past eight games, is 11-13 all-time against the Trojans. USC has four players who average in double figures, led by Briana Gilbreath at 15.0 points per game. The junior guard also pulls in a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game.
The Gauchos are led by Emilie Johnson, who averages 13.5 points per game.
