ORONO

The University of Maine women’s basketball team was back in “The Pit” on Monday afternoon, preparing for another game.

For the second straight year, the Black Bears’ season will culminate with the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. They learned late Monday night that the opponent will be Quinnipiac.

UMaine (26-8), which earned the America East Conference automatic bid, will visit Quinnipiac (24-8), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference auto qualifier, on Friday in Hamden, Conn. The time will be announced today.

UMaine and Quinnipiac, ranked Nos. 60 and 87, respectively, in the NCAA Rating Percentage Index, will meet for the third time in history. The Bobcats won in 2007 and 2009.

The winner advances to face the survivor of the Temple

Drexel matchup. That could put UMaine in position to host a second-round contest as Temple is 69th in the RPI and host Drexel is 80th.

Coach Richard Barron’s UMaine squad (26-8) is refocusing after a tough 59-58 loss at Albany in the America East championship game last Friday.

“Of course we’re disappointed, it wasn’t what we wanted. It wasn’t our first choice,” senior forward Mikaela Gustafsson said of playing in the WNIT. “It’s still a prestigious tournament, and we’re happy that we’re in it.”

Like the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, the WNIT is a 64-team, single-elimination event. However, it is held on the home courts of the highest seeds that submitted bids to host the games.

First-round games will be played March 16-18 and early-round games are regionalized as much as possible in order to minimize missed class time and travel costs.