North Carolina A&T is among the 16-team field announced today to play during the 2009 Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
The Lady Aggies will open the tournament at Marist on Nov. 13 at
7:30 p.m. Marist is in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The winner will move on in a traditional tournament format to play the winner of the Towson at West Virginia matchup.
North Carolina A&T, winners of back-to-back MEAC regular season titles, dominated conference play with a 15-1 mark a year ago. They earned a No. 14 seed and made their first appearance in 15 years in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.
“An invite to a tournament of this magnitude is truly an honor,’’ said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, who is heading into her fifth season. “Out of roughly 300 Division I schools, we are one of 16 teams invited. It shows the women’s college basketball world is paying attention to this program, and what it has accomplished over the past few seasons. This will be an outstanding experience for my ladies.”
The eight teams who lose in the first round will be re-grouped into consolation brackets, which are two four-team pools. Each team in this consolation round will play two games for a total of three. Teams that lose in the quarterfinals are also guaranteed a third game in the tournament.
“Our players really deserve this,’’ said Bibbs, who is 77-47 as the Head Coach of the Lady Aggies. “In order to be considered for this tournament you must have a pretty good RPI. That means our young ladies have put in the work it takes to win a lot of games. I’m proud of them.”
In each of the last two seasons, the Lady Aggies have broken the school record in wins. Last season they went 26-7 overall, and for the second straight season they were 15-1 in the MEAC. The 26 wins were not only the most wins in school history; the seven losses were the fewest in school history.
North Carolina A&T will join 10 other teams who advanced to the WNCAA last spring. Among those teams are Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Tech, New Mexico, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Winthrop and Marist. Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Northern Colorado, Towson and UTEP also accepted invitations.
The Lady Aggies appear well-equipped to take on the challenge. Five seniors, including three-year standouts Lamona Smalley and Ta’Wuana Cook, will lead the 2009-10 team.
First-round Preseason WNIT games
All 2008-2009 team records in parentheses
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
Eastern Illinois (24-9) at Ohio State (29-6), 5 p.m. ET
UTEP (18-12) at Florida Gulf Coast (26-5), 7 p.m. ET
Arkansas-Little Rock (26-7) at Oklahoma State (17-16), 7 p.m. ET
Towson (17-13) at West Virginia (18-15), 7 p.m. ET
Winthrop (16-16) at Georgia Tech (22-10), 7:30 p.m. ET
Chicago State (16-13) at Bowling Green (29-5), 7:30 p.m. ET
North Carolina A&T (26-7) at Marist (29-4), 7:30 p.m. ET
Northern Colorado (12-18) at New Mexico (25-11), 9 p.m. ET