VICTORIA, B.C. (Sept. 12, 2019) – Recent NCAA Final Four stalwarts Mississippi State, Stanford and Syracuse highlight the field of the eight-team Greater Victoria Invitational presented by the City of Langford women’s tournament to be played November 28-30 at the University of Victoria’s CARSA Performance Gym. The tournament is a collaboration between bdG Sports, University of Victoria and the Greater Victoria Sport Tourism Commission. Pairings for the three-day tournament were announced today by bdG Sports, the Kentucky-based owner and operator of the event.

“Stanford, Mississippi State and Syracuse have combined for four NCAA Final Fours and three appearances in the National Championship game over the past four years and to have all three in one tournament is very special,” said Debbie Antonelli, ESPN analyst and Greater Victoria Invitational presented by the City of Langford Tournament Director. “Between those three teams and some very talented programs in the rest of the field, basketball fans in B.C. will see some of the very best talent in college basketball at UVic.”

The tournament will feature four games daily over the three days, with a winners’ and losers’ bracket. First-round pairings for Thursday, Nov. 28 are as follows:

- Green Bay vs. Bowling Green – 11 a.m. PT

- Mississippi State vs. San Francisco – 1:30 p.m. PT

- Syracuse vs. Houston – 5 p.m. PT

- Stanford vs. Cal Baptist – 7:30 p.m.

Game times for Friday and Saturday will be the same with semifinal games on Nov. 29 at 5:00/7:30. Saturday’s championship game will tip at 7:30.

Two-time NCAA Champion Stanford is expected to lead the pack as a top-five team nationally for the 2019-20 season. The Cardinal adds the nation’s No. 1-rated incoming freshman Haley Jones and dunking-sensation Fran Belibi to a strong core that includes four returning starters. Mississippi State looks to once again be among the nation’s elite after making deep NCAA Tournament runs and winning 30+ games in each of the past three seasons. The Bulldogs will see their line-up bolstered by the return of starting guard Jordan Danberry (averaged 13.1 points while starting all 36 games for MSU), who recently received a waiver to play this season.

Syracuse also is expected to be among the nation’s top-25 teams with seven of its top nine leading scorers returning from last season. Green Bay, 22-10 last season with a 2nd-place finish in the Horizon League; Cal Baptist, 18-12 record with a 2nd-place finish in the WAC; and Houston, top-four in the American Athletic Conference, all played in the WNIT postseason tournament. Bowling Green (Mid-American Conference) and San Francisco (West Coast Conference) round out the tournament field.

Full tournament info can be found at www.VictoriaInvitational.com and on social media at @VictoriaInvBC.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the Greater Victoria Invitational presented by the City of Langford go on sale to the public on Friday, September 20. Tickets are priced on a per session basis at $20 CAD for endzone, $35 CAD for sideline and $125 CAD courtside (approximately $15, $27 and $95 USD respectively). Tickets can be purchased at www.victoriainvitational.com or vikestickets.universitytickets.com.

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