Despite losing the Mid-American Conference tournament in the third round, the BG women’s basketball team will still have a chance to compete this postseason.

The Falcons received a bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, marking the ninth consecutive season of postseason play,which is a MAC record. The game will be held Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the Stroh Center against Southern Methodist.

“We are very happy to participate in the WNIT and to still be playing basketball at this time of the year,” BG coach Jennifer Roos said. “This is the ninth consecutive season in which BGSU has advanced to national postseason play, and we couldn’t be more proud of that fact.”

Also, the Falcons are celebrating the tenth season in a row winning 20 games or more, recording another MAC record. The Falcons finished the season with a record of 22-10 and were 11-5 in MAC play.

BG was second in the MAC’s East Division, and finished one game behind Akron for the conference lead. Like many other teams, BG had aspirations of making the NCAA tournament, but was shut down by Central Michigan in the third round of the MAC tournament. The Falcons were defeated 81-48 by the Chippewas.

Despite the rough ending to the season, the Falcons have earned a trip to the WNIT, where they will take on the Conference USA regular-season champion Southern Methodist Mustangs. The Mustangs were 21-9 (12-4 C-USA) on the year, but saw their season come to an end in the quarterfinal round of their conference tournament.

“We are extremely fortunate to be playing a home game,” Roos said.

“Playing at the Stroh Center is second to none, and I want to thank our loyal fans and community members, along with our administration, for helping to make this happen,” Roos said. “We will have 48 hours to prepare for an extremely talented team who averages nearly 70 points per game. It should be entertaining for our fans to see the Conference USA regular-season champion and the Conference USA Player of the Year play at the Stroh Center on Thursday.”

Roos was referring to SMU guard Keena Mays, the C-USA player of the year. Mays led the team in scoring, averaging over 18 points per game. She also was second on the team in numerous categories, including steals, assists and shooting percentage.

The Falcons will also have to defend against two other players with the ability to score in double digits for the Mustangs. Guard Alisha Filmore and Forward Akil Simpson are second and third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.2 and 10.5 points per game respectively. Simpson almost averages close a double-double as she also puts up eight rebounds a game.

BG will look to bank on their strong reputation at home to carry them past SMU. The Falcons enter the game with SMU with a 12-4 record at the Stroh Center. The team 26-6 in the Stroh since it opened up last season.

Thursday’s meeting, will mark the first time both BG and SMU have met in women’s basketball.