Georgia Tech Women's Basketball Earns WBIT Invitation, Will Face Kansas State

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Georgia Tech is a team that has gotten much better as the season has gone on and they were close to knocking off Virginia Tech (an NCAA Tournament team) and advancing to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. While the Yellow Jackets are not going to the big dance in Karen Blair's first season, they have received an invitation to the WBIT and will face Kansas State.
The Yellow Jackets (14-18, 8-10 ACC) are set to face second-seeded Kansas State (18-17, 8-10 Big 12) Thursday, March 19 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. A win in the first round will place Tech in a second round matchup Sunday, March 22 against the winner of third-seeded California and Santa Clara. Thursday’s start time is to-be-determined.
Led by All-ACC Performers Talayah Walker and Brianna Turnage, Tech won 14 games in year one under head coach Karen Blair. The Jackets captured wins over No. 18 Notre Dame, Clemson, Stanford and Miami in addition to a 72-60 win over Florida State in the first round of the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Tech tied for the most players averaging 5.0 points per game in the country (9) and were led in scoring by Walker, who averaged 17.1 per game. Turnage’s 10.8 rebounds per game were a team high while she led the ACC in the category in conference action (12.5).
Blair becomes the first head coach in program history to earn a postseason berth in their first year.
The bid marks Tech’s first WBIT appearance since the first-ever edition of the event in 2024. The Yellow Jackets have received an invite for a postseason tournament in 12 of the last 14 seasons, not counting the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. 2025-26 marks the 29th postseason appearance for Georgia Tech women’s basketball in the program’s history.
Thursday’s tilt marks the third meeting between the Tech and the Wildcats. KSU leads the all-time series, 2-0.
ESPN will serve as the television broadcast partner for all WBIT games, with ESPN+ airing preliminary round games, while the semifinals will air on ESPNU and the finals on ESPN2.
The preliminary rounds of the tournament (first, second rounds and quarterfinals) will be played at campus sites. The semifinals and championship are hosted by Wichita State in Wichita, Kan. The top 16 seeds determined by the selection committee will host the first-round games.
2026 WBIT Schedule
First Round – Thursday, March 19 (campus sites)
Second Round – Sunday, March 22 (campus sites)
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 26 (campus sites)
Semifinals – Monday, March 30 (Charles Koch Arena – Wichita, Kan.)
Championship – Wednesday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m. (Charles Koch Arena – Wichita, Kan.)

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell
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