By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The last time the Miami women's basketball team made a trip to a postseason national tournament, most of these RedHawks weren't born.

Tonight, the RedHawks re-emerge to play Xavier in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

Miami (21-8) and Xavier (17-12) play at Cintas Center at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the round of 16 to play the winner of tonight's Iowa State-Idaho State game.

"(The WNIT bid) is a great reward," Miami senior forward Colleen Day said. "On the other hand, we're not just happy to be here. We want to win, and we have high expectations."

Day, Princeton High grad Kim Lancaster and Melanie Kozlowski will look to extend their senior seasons by giving Miami its first postseason national tournament win. Miami went to the AIAW tournament in 1982.

Xavier (17-12) is on the opposite end, making the program's sixth postseason appearance in seven years. But the Musketeers start two freshmen and two sophomores, and will use this tournament as an experience-builder.

"A lot of people were disappointed that we didn't make it to the NCAAs, but you have to look at it - we lost two All-Americans and we play a lot of freshmen and sophomores," sophomore forward Tara Boothe said. "So just making it to the postseason gave everybody confidence. We can say, 'So what if we're young, we're going to go out and play.' "

For both teams, it's a chance to overcome early exits from their conference tournaments. Xavier lost in the second round of the Atlantic 10 to Temple. Miami, the Mid-American Conference regular-season champion, was knocked from the MAC semifinals by Bowling Green's buzzer-beater.

"They were really down. It took a lot out of them," said Miami coach Maria Fantanarosa, the MAC Coach of the year. "And then it went from being sad to being anxious. ... When the phone rang (from the WNIT) it was a little bit of a relief, but it was also the beginning of a new season."

The RedHawks, with a number of scoring options that can erupt on a given night, average 77.8 points a game, sixth-best in the country. Xavier, coached by Kevin McGuff, allows 59.2 points a game.

Miami vs. Xavier

What: WNIT opening round

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: Cintas Center

Tickets: $7 adults, $5 children; 745-3411.

Listen: Web cast, with Mike Schmaltz and Trevor Cole, www.athletics.xu.edu