The Georgetown women’s basketball team opens up its season this weekend playing host to James Madison in the first round of the 2000 preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The tournament, sponsored by Triple Crown Sports, features 16 of the nation’s premier teams including seven teams that participated in last season’s NCAA tournament and an additional three that participated in the WNIT.

The seven NCAA teams participating in the tournament are Purdue, Louisiana Tech, Texas, Virginia, George Washington, Tulane and Rice. Last season’s WNIT included Wichita State, Tennessee-Chattanooga and the Hoyas. Eastern Michigan, Grambling State, Mount St. Mary’s, Delaware, South Carolina and the Hoyas’ first round opponent, James Madison, round out the field of 16.

“We’re honored to be in the WNIT,” Head Coach Pat Knapp said. “It’s a very strong tournament.”

Despite missing the postseason last year, James Madison, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, was one of the nation’s most improved teams, winning 19 games following an 11-win season the previous year.

Like the Hoyas, the Dukes are a veteran club returning all five starters from a year ago. Senior shooting guard Mandy White averaged over 13 points last season for the Dukes while forwards Nadine Morgan and Stacey Todd each averaged nearly six rebounds per game. Sophomore Jess Chicowicz led the Dukes in assists, averaging 4.5 per game.

Knapp noted the similarities between his team and the Dukes: “[James Madison] has a number of people back as we do, so we’re quite evenly matched,” he said.

Should the Hoyas escape McDonough Gymnasium tomorrow night with a win over the Dukes, they will likely face Purdue in the second round. A matchup with the Boilermakers would be the toughest out-of-conference contest the Hoyas have had in years.

“They’re pretty good, but we play a lot of teams better than them [in the Big East]” Knapp said. “Their names are UConn, Rutgers and Notre Dame . so [a game with Purdue] won’t be anything new to us.”

Because of the tournament’s steep competition, Knapp hesitates to set any specific goals for his squad. Rather, he plans on taking things one thing at a time.

“The focus in on JMU,” he said. “Beating them is our number one goal.”