FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Navy women's basketball team will be playing postseason basketball this week as the bracket for the 2025 Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) was announced on Monday afternoon. Coming off a 19-11 regular season and home quarterfinal matchup in the Patriot League Tournament, this year's squad will be entering its name in the program record books with just the seventh-ever postseason bid in its Division I era. Continuing the turnaround that saw the program improve its win total by 13 wins from 2022-23 to 2023-24 and five more so far this season, Navy will be matched up on the road at Old Dominion University this Saturday afternoon. The contest at Chartway Arena is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off with the winner bracketed to play a second round contest versus Purdue University Fort Wayne early next week.

Led by Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and two-time All-PL First Team honoree Zanai Barnett-Gay (18.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.2 apg) and Patriot League Rookie of the Year Julianna Almeida (9.3 ppg, 5.1 apg, 37.2% from three-point range), the Mids finished their regular season with wins in four straight games to clinch the four-seed in the 2025 Patriot League Tournament. Coming into the WNIT with 19 wins, head coach Tim Taylor and Navy will be looking for the program's first 20-win season since 2017-18 when the Mids went 25-8 and reached the Patriot League Tournament finals.

All-time, Navy has earned berths into the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons from 2011 through 2013 before continued its run of success in the WNIT in 2014, 2017 and 2018. The Mids' most recent WNIT opportunity saw them push Virginia Tech to the brink in their first round matchup on March 16, 2018 as the Hokies held on for a 56-55 victory in Blacksburg. Navy's first trip to the WNIT saw the Mids travel down to Norfolk, Virginia to take on this same ODU program on March 20, 2014. The Monarchs edged the Mids, 68-60 in that meeting. During their 2017 WNIT run, the Mids knocked off the George Washington Colonials in the first round, 61-51 in overtime before fall in Blacksburg to the Hokies, 75-64.

That WNIT contest in 2014 is the only meeting in the series between Navy and ODU. Additionally, that is the last time, the Mids have taken on a team from the Sun Belt Conference; they're 8-9 all-time.

This is the 27th edition of the Postseason WNIT, powered by Triple Crown Sports as the first tournament was held in 1998.

Round 1 schedule (all times ET)
Thursday, March 20
Army West Point (24-7) at Bryant (17-14), 5 p.m.
Campbell (21-12) at Coastal Carolina (23-8), 6 p.m.
Longwood (22-11) at Duquesne (19-12), 6 p.m.
Stonehill (17-15) at UMass (16-14), 6 p.m.
Lipscomb (20-11) at Western Illinois (16-16), 7 p.m.
Northwestern State (16-15) at Abilene Christian (20-12), 7 p.m.
Saint Mary's (14-16) at Texas Southern (16-15), 7:30 p.m.
UIW (18-13) at UT Arlington (17-13), 7:30 p.m.
Tulsa (17-14) at Lindenwood (21-10), 8 p.m.
New Mexico State (17-15) at Pacific (15-18), 9 p.m.

Friday, March 21
Siena (17-13) at Howard (21-11), 7 p.m.
UAB (16-15) at UIC (14-17), 8 p.m.
Utah Valley (18-12) at Air Force (18-14), 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 22
Navy (19-11) at Old Dominion (17-15), 2 p.m.
Alabama A&M (21-10) at Chattanooga (16-14), 2 p.m.
Coppin State (18-14) at Colgate (23-9), 5 p.m.

Round 2 in bracket order (dates, times, locations TBA)
Air Force/Utah Valley vs. Washington State (20-13)
Pacific/New Mexico State vs. North Dakota State (19-11)
UT Arlington/UIW vs. North Texas (24-8)
Chattanooga/Alabama A&M vs. Troy (20-13)
Abilene Christian/Northwestern State vs. Central Arkansas (23-9)
Western Illinois/Lipscomb vs. Illinois State (21-12)
Lindenwood/Tulsa vs. Tarleton State (20-13)
Texas Southern/Saint Mary's vs. Louisiana Tech (16-15)
UMass/Stonehill vs. Buffalo (25-7)
Coastal Carolina/Campbell vs. Southern Indiana (22-12)
Bryant/Army West Point vs. Rutgers (11-19)
Howard/Siena vs. College of Charleston (24-7)
Duquesne/Longwood vs. Miami (OH) (19-11)
Colgate/Coppin State vs. Cleveland State (24-9)
Old Dominion/Navy vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (25-8)
UIC/UAB vs. Butler (15-17)

Here's the rest of the schedule for the 27th edition of the Postseason WNIT:

Round 2 - March 23-25, 2025
Super 16 - March 26-28, 2025
Great 8 - March 29-31, 2025
Fab 4 - April 1-2, 2025
Championship - Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 3 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)