The goal of making the NCAA tournament field turned out to be just out of reach for the Gophers women’s basketball team. But the program took another step by accepting a bid to play in the 32-team Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament on Sunday.

The Gophers (20-11) received a No. 2 seed in the tournament and will visit Toledo (24-8) in a first-round game Thursday. The Gophers would normally host the game, but a scheduling conflict with the boys basketball state tournament means the game will be played at Toledo.

If the Gophers win, they would play the winner of the No. 3 seed Missouri State and Oral Roberts on Sunday, a second-round game the Gophers could presumably host.

The Gophers, who have won 20 games in both of coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s two seasons, spent much of the season on or near the NCAA bubble. But losing their last three games, including a 79-65 loss to Washington at the Big Ten tournament, and eight of their last 10 pushed them into the WBIT, which is about to commence for the second time.

The Big Ten sent 12 teams to the NCAA tournament, including two No. 1 seeds (UCLA and USC) and two No. 4 seeds (Ohio State and Maryland).

The WBIT was created by the NCAA to offer the same postseason opportunities as the men; the NCAA runs both its tournament and the men’s 32-team NIT. The new WBIT was created last year.

As a sign of the Gophers’ progress, they were not invited to the WBIT tournament last season and ended up going to the Women’s NIT, advancing to the championship game.