South Florida and Florida State will travel to first-round WNIT games.
USF (14-14, 7-7 Conference USA) will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at Richmond (20-9) in its first postseason appearance in 26 years and first of the "modern" era.
FSU (14-14, 7-9 ACC) plays at 8 p.m. Wednesday at South Alabama (22-6). USF and FSU would meet in the second round if they win, with the date (between March 19 and 22) and site to be determined.
USF's only other postseason berth came in 1978, a Region III AIAW appearance.
"Oh man, we're ecstatic," USF coach Jose Fernandez said. "I'm just really pleased for our team and our staff. We know USF has never been to postseason play, so it's a big moment for our program, that's for sure."
The Bulls figured they were well-positioned for a WNIT bid heading into the C-USA tournament having won five of six. However, they dropped the opening game to Cincinnati.
"We've practiced every day since Thursday," Fernandez said. "We were optimistic."
USF associate athletic director Barry Clements said the school had hoped to host a first-round game and told the WNIT it would host in the second round. The Sun Dome has not hosted a postseason basketball game in 13 years.
"Anything's possible," Clements said. "We've put in that we want to (host) if the opportunity presents itself."
This is FSU's second straight NIT appearance. The Seminoles beat Florida International in Tallahassee last season before losing to Auburn in the second round.
FSU is making its first back-to-back postseason appearances since 1990-91. The Seminoles finished fifth in the ACC, highlighted with a win over then-No. 1 Duke on Feb. 4 and a season sweep of NCAA Tournament team Maryland during the regular season. FSU lost to the Terrapins in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
"We're pleased to be able to continue our season," Seminoles coach Sue Semrau said. "(This) will be a good experience for our entire team, but especially for our young kids."
- Times correspondent Zachary Spain contributed to this report.
