SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Gonzaga and Portland each earned a bid to the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT), as the full bracket was announced Sunday evening. Gonzaga earned a No. 4 seed and will host UTSA at McCarthey Athletic Center. Portland will travel to No. 2 seed Stanford. Both games are set for Thursday and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Games times will be announced later.  
 
Gonzaga will meet UTSA (26-4) out of the American Athletic Conference. If the Zags advance, they will meet the winner of the first-round matchup between Colorado and Southeastern La. in the second round on Sunday.
 
Portland will face Stanford out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. If the Pilots advance, they will face either Seton Hall or Quinnipiac in the second round of the WBIT on Sunday.   
 
Gonzaga and Portland shared the West Coast Conference regular season title with a 17-3 conference mark. The Bulldogs have won 16 of their last 18 games and are 22-10 overall. Gonzaga, the top seed in the 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship, dropped a 63-61 decision to Oregon State in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
 
Gonzaga is led by two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, Yvonne Ejim. She is a finalist for the Becky Hammon Player of the Year award, which she won last year. Ejim is also a finalist for the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year award and is on the Top 20 watch list for the John R. Wooden Award. The senior was on the midseason watch lists for the Naismith and USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale awards. She earned a spot on the WCC Women’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament team with an 18-point, 14-rebound performance against Oregon State. Ejim is one of five active Division I players with at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She enters the WBIT with 2,319 career points and 1,099 career rebounds. Ejim owns the Gonzaga record for career scoring, rebounding and field goals, and ranks second in WCC history in career scoring in all games and conference games (1,223). She also ranks fifth in WCC history in career rebounds. The forward ranks 10th in the nation in field goals (252), 12th in the country in total points (660) and 15th nationally in points per game (20.6).
 
Freshman Allie Turner leads all freshmen nationally and ranks seventh overall with 95 three pointers this season. She also ranks fifth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (45.7%).
 
Portland enters the WBIT with a program record number of wins as a Division I program with a 29-4 overall record. Of the 29 wins, 21 have come by double digits. The Pilots have won 13 of their last 14 games. Portland captured its first WCC regular season title since the 1996-97 season. The Pilots, the No. 2 seed in the 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, advanced to the conference tournament finals, dropping a 59-46 decision to Oregon State. 
 
Along with Ejim’s WCC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier was voted the WCC Coach of the Year and Allie Turner was voted the Conference’s Freshman of the Year.
 
Portland ranks in the top-40 in the nation in free throws made per game (6th, 16.7), winning percentage (13th, 87.9%), free throw attempts per game (16th, 21.45), assists per game (18th, 17.6), free throw percentage (18th, 77.8), steals per game (28th, 10.7), points per game (30th, 76.8), assist/turnover ratio (30th, 1.19 ), turnovers forced per game (32nd, 19.85), turnover margin (31st, 5.03) and scoring margin (39th, 13.6). McKelle Meek ranks fifth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (3.23).
 
Portland's veteran lineup includes three individuals who have scored more than 1,500 career points, including Burnham (1,922), Shearer (1,628) and Mark (1,566). Burnham, Mark and Shearer were each First Team All-WCC selections this season. Burnham and Shearer were selected to the WCC All-Tournament Team.
 
Santa Clara was selected to compete in the inaugural WBIT last year. The Broncos defeated BYU at home in the first round, before falling at Washington State in the second round.