Sherika Montgomery and Lisa Stockton appointed to WBIT Selection Committee

Big South Commissioner Sherika Montgomery and former Tulane girls’s basketball coach Lisa Stockton have been appointed to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament Selection Committee, changing former Georgia State Senior Associate Athletics Director Kelcey Roegiers and former Texas Tech girls’s basketball coach Marsha Sharp. 

Montgomery grew to become the Big South’s fourth commissioner May 15, 2023. A former girls’s basketball student-athlete at Gardner-Webb, Montgomery beforehand was a Big South workers member from 2010 to 2017. Her expertise in faculty athletics consists of management roles on the Missouri Valley Conference, NCAA, The Summit League and Winthrop University, specializing in organizational management, governance, compliance, student-athlete success and variety initiatives. She has chaired the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics and was acknowledged among the many Top 25 Women in Higher Education and Beyond by Diverse Education in 2016.

“It is not hyperbole to say the sport of basketball changed the trajectory of my life and professional journey,” Montgomery stated. “That’s why I’m deeply honored to serve on the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament Selection Committee. I’m elated to contribute to the growth and excellence of the women’s basketball community and proudly support the Division I membership.”

Stockton retired on the finish of the 2023-24 season after serving 30 years as the pinnacle coach at Tulane. The Greensboro, North Carolina, native was named one of many 25 most influential girls in Louisiana sports activities historical past by The Advocate in 2022. In 2020, Silver Waves Media tabbed her as one of many 100 Most Impactful People nationally throughout the game of girls’s faculty basketball. To that finish, she was a member of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Issues Committee and was beforehand on its Academic Subcommittee. Dubbed one in every of CitiBusiness’ 2007 Women of the Year, she has additionally served on the Women’s Basketball Regional Advisory Committee, has had two stints on the Kodak All-American Committee, twice chaired the Conference USA girls’s basketball coaches and served 4 phrases because the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association convention captain.

“I am truly honored to join the WBIT Selection Committee and excited for the opportunity to contribute to the continued growth of this dynamic tournament,” Stockton stated. “The WBIT has quickly become a meaningful and highly competitive postseason tournament, and I look forward to contributing to its growth.” 

The eight-member WBIT Selection Committee is made up of former girls’s basketball head coaches and present or former directors. The different committee members embrace former head coaches Brian Giorgis (Marist), Sue Guevara (Central Michigan) and Harry Perretta (Villanova). Ceal Barry (Colorado) is a former head coach and administrator. Also on the committee are present administrator Janice Ruggiero (New Mexico) and former administrator Barbara Burke (Iowa), who at present serves because the committee chair. Barry, Burke and Ruggiero are alumni of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, whereas Giorgis served on the Women’s Basketball Issues Committee.

Minnesota claimed the 2025 WBIT championship by defeating Belmont 75-63 at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler campus in Indianapolis. The 2026 Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament semifinals and finals will likely be performed in Koch Arena on the campus of Wichita State in Wichita, Kansas, with the semifinal video games March 30 and championship recreation April 1. The ESPN platforms will as soon as once more broadcast all WBIT video games, whereas Westwood One Sports will present radio protection of the semifinals and finals to its many affiliate stations throughout the nation, SiriusXM Satellite Radio and TuneIn.

The 32-team WBIT postseason event is owned and funded by the NCAA. Selections, pairings and the bracket for the 2026 WBIT will likely be introduced Sunday, March 15. Preliminary-round video games will start March 19 on the greater seed’s dwelling courtroom. For extra info on the WBIT, please go to ncaa.com/wbit.