Valparaiso will open the 2010-2011 women’s basketball season on Friday evening, November 12, as the Crusaders face DePaul out of the Big East in the first round of the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament in Chicago, Ill.

The Crusaders and Blue Demons have not met since December 29, 2004 when DePaul defeated Valpo in the first round of the Blue Sky Classic in Hanover, N.H.

The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The event opens Nov. 12-13 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played Nov. 14-15; semifinals will be Nov. 17-18; and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 21.  Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 19-20. All games are hosted by participating schools, and sites are announced by the end of the preceding round.

Other first round matches include:

Friday, Nov. 12, 2010
Austin Peay at Purdue

St. Francis PA at Toledo

Hampton at JMU

Lamar at Missouri State

Utah Valley at South Dakota State

Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010
Central Florida at Florida

Iona at Charlotte

This marks the Crusaders’ second appearance all-time in the Preseason WNIT, as Valpo fell at Colorado State in the evening in 1998.

Valparaiso’s complete 2010-2011 schedule will be released within the next few weeks.