| National Women's Invitational Tournament | |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Founded: | 1969 |
| Last: | 1996 |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Most Champs: | Wayland Baptist - 9 |
| Folded: | 1996 |
| Related Comps: | Women's NIT Women's Basketball Invitational |
| Founder: | Unknown |
The National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) was a post-season tournament for women's intercollegiate basketball programs that was contested from 1969 to 1996. The original sponsorship information appears to have been lost over the ensuing years. After the NWIT folded in 1996, the concept was resurrected in 1998 by Triple Crown Sports under the same name, but the name was changed the following season to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (also known as the WNIT).[1]
Begun in the same year as the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's invitational tournament (which was assumed by the now-defunct Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1972), the NWIT was an eight team, consolation bracket tournament held at the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas. Through 1974, the tournament included teams from both four-year colleges and junior colleges.[1]
Source: [1]
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Wayland Baptist | 54 | 34 | ||
| 1970 | Wayland Baptist | 50 | 46 | ||
| 1971 | Wayland Baptist | 63 | 44 | ||
| 1972 | Wayland Baptist | 48 | John F. Kennedy College | 41 | |
| 1973 | Wayland Baptist | 52 | John F. Kennedy College | 49 | |
| 1974 | Wayland Baptist | 59 | John F. Kennedy College | 52 | |
| 1975 | Wayland Baptist | 79 | 41 | ||
| 1976 | Wayland Baptist | 90 | UCLA | 77 | |
| 1977 | Wayland Baptist | 79 | UCLA | 75 | |
| 1978 | Old Dominion | 70 | 60 | ||
| 1979 | South Carolina | 74 | 71 | ||
| 1980 | Oregon State | 71 | 62 | ||
| 1981 | Georgia | 75* | 73 | ||
| 1982 | Oregon State | 76 | 60 | ||
| 1983 | New Orleans | 68 | Memphis State | 58 | |
| 1984 | Vanderbilt | 67 | 66 | ||
| 1985 | LSU | 74 | 54 | ||
| 1986 | Idaho | 100 | 91 | ||
| 1987 | Arkansas | 112 | 80 | ||
| 1988 | DePaul | 83 | 55 | ||
| 1989 | Oregon | 67 | 64 | ||
| 1990 | Kentucky | 85 | 76 | ||
| 1991 | Santa Clara | 71 | 68 | ||
| 1992 | Georgia Tech | 90 | 72 | ||
| 1993 | Arkansas State | 67 | 54 | ||
| 1994 | Oklahoma | 69 | 65 | ||
| 1995 | Texas A&M | 85 | 81 | ||
| 1996 | Arizona | 79 | 63 | ||