AGGIE WOMEN EARN PRESEASON INVITE

Aggies return five seniors from their MEAC Championship team

Brian Holloway
6/30/09

GREENSBORO, June 30, 2009 – Four years ago, the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team was coming off of its 10^th straight losing season. One WNCAA Tournament appearance and two consecutive MEAC regular-season championships later, the Aggies are considered one of the strongest programs in the nation.

The Women’s National Invitational Tournament officials took notice on Tuesday by putting the Aggies in their prestigious 2009 Preseason WNIT 16-team field.

“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 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.

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 Aggies head lady. “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 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. The Aggies capped off the 2008-09 season by winning the MEAC Tournament for the first time in 15 years, thusly earning an automatic bid to the WNCAA.

N.C. 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 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.

-www.ncataggies.com-