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St. Joseph’s accepts bid to NIT; Drexel and La Salle to compete in WNIT

The Hawks will face Colorado State on Wednesday in the first round of the NIT. The WNIT bracket is expected to be released on Monday.

St. Joe's Austin Williford going for a three-pointer against La Salle. The Hawks accepted a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.
St. Joe's Austin Williford going for a three-pointer against La Salle. The Hawks accepted a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer
    by Ryan Mack
    Published 

Despite not making it to the NCAA Tournament, three schools in the Big 5 will continue its season.

St. Joseph’s accepted a bid to the National Invitational Tournament, while La Salle and Drexel will participate in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

The Hawks will travel to play Colorado State on Wednesday (ESPNU, 11 p.m.). The WNIT bracket will be revealed sometime Monday.

St. Joe’s, which is unseeded in the Albuquerque region of the bracket, was selected to the NIT for the third consecutive year. The Hawks finished third in the Atlantic 10 and made a semifinal appearance in the conference tournament, where they lost, 77-64, to eventual A-10 champion VCU.

First-year coach Steve Donahue was named A-10 Coach of the Year, as he led St. Joe’s to finish the regular season winning 13 of 16 games.

The Dragons fell, 53-49, in overtime to 10th-seeded Hofstra in the semifinals of the Coastal Athletic Association tournament. This is Drexel’s first postseason appearance since it qualified for the NCAA Tournament during the 2023-24 season. The Dragons were the seventh seed that year and won four games in four days.

La Salle’s 18 wins are the same amount it had in the last two seasons combined. The Explorers, which finished sixth in the A 10, were led by guard Aryss Macktoon, who was named the conference’s defensive player of the year and ranked tenth in the country in steals.

» READ MORE: La Salle eliminated from A-10 quarterfinals with 70-51 loss to Richmond

Macktoon was also named to the conference’s second team, alongside Ashleigh Connor, who finished third in the A-10 in scoring, with 15.7 points per game.