Women’s basketball passes on the WNIT

The only question is: Why?

We know that Selection Monday was not good for the Eagles as they got left out of the NCAA Tournament by what we can only assume was a slim margin.  Charlie Creme, Joe Lunardi’s counterpart for the women’s game, had BC as the first team out of the dance.  This would lead many, including myself, to believe that if the lady Eagles had accepted an invitation to the Women’s NIT, they’d have been one of the top teams and would hold a very good shot of a deep run.

Except they declined the invitation.  Ayla Brown, BC player, former American Idol contestant, and daughter of the now-famous Massachusetts senator, had this to say on Twitter last night:

"coach declined our invitation to play in the wnit. As a sr it wouldve been nice to kno this earlier that it was my last game. I’m disgusted."

I can’t say I blame her for her disgust.  If it was Coach Sylvia Crawley’s call to accept or decline the invitation, I am at a loss as to why she would choose to decline for the reasons stated above.  It’s one thing if you’re going to be a low seed and your team has had enough, or you’re a 6-6 team in football and you’re turning down a bowl game, but BC would have likely gotten a very favorable draw and I have to imagine they might have come close to winning.

I’m sure Crawley has her reasons.  I just don’t think any of us know what they are.