Ladies Clinch MEAC Regular Season Championship

[DECKS]

Bison 64
Aggies 80

Congrats to Coach Bibbs and team!!

[blessedaggie84]

Good job Ladies

[Bornthrilla]

Exclusive post game interview coverage:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeOXsiAqTiU

[captaggie]

Congratulations to the Lady Aggies B'ball program!!

[Maxell]

Pre-Season NIT next year!

[Bornthrilla]

www.womensnit.com/preinfo.asp

Preseason WNIT Tournament Overview

The Women's National Invitation Tournament is an annual tournament involving 16 of the nation's top women's Division I basketball teams. A team may participate no more than once in a four-year period. Additionally, only one institution per conference may play in the tournament in the same year.

Format

The event changed to a three-game guarantee format in 2007. All games, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools at their home facility.
The initial round of the event involves eight sites hosted by participating institutions. The winner’s bracket looks identical to past Preseason tournaments.

First Round Winners

The eight Round One winners will continue on in traditional bracket play, with half of them hosting the other half in separate host sites. The winning teams will continue on, with separate host sites throughout the semifinals and championship. The two teams in the championship game will play four games in the tournament.

First Round Losers

The eight teams who lose their first games will be re-grouped into “Consolation bracket quads,” which will be two four-team pools. One team in each pool is selected to host the other three teams. Each team will play two games for a total of three in the tournament. These are called Consolation Rounds 1 and 2.

Quarterfinal Round Losers (from original bracket)

Of the four quarterfinal teams, two teams will be selected to host one of the other quarterfinal round losers in a single game at separate sites. This game provides the third game for each of these schools. This round is Consolation Round 3.

The 2008 event begins on the first Friday of the regular season (Nov. 14). Round Two games will be played Sunday, Nov. 16, through Wednesday, Nov. 19. The semifinals will occur Wednesday, Nov. 19 through Friday, Nov. 21. The tournament championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 23. The consolation bracket quads will be played Friday, Nov. 21-Sunday, Nov. 23. Round Two losers will play Nov. 21 or 22 at two separate sites.

[Bornthrilla]

This is the kind of exposure a coach like the Daughter of Man brings to a basketball program. A&T would never have been invited to a preseason WNIT tournament if she wasn't here.

Now the job is for A&T to market her success and find a way to capitalize on it. She has given A&T the ammunition; we just now have to pull the marketing trigger, so to speak.

[Bornthrilla]

ncataggies.com/Womensbasketball/2008-2009%20articles/27aggiesvhoward.htm

GREENSBORO, February 28, 2009 – North Carolina A&T junior forward Jaleesa Sams made the best of Friends and Family night at Corbett Sports Center Saturday. Fifty-to-60 people from her hometown of New Castle, Pa., bused to Greensboro to watch her play.

She rewarded their long trip by scoring a career-high 21 points and had six rebounds and five steals on 9-for-11 shooting to lead the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team to an 84-60 win over Howard. Sams’ family also witnessed the Aggies clinch their second-straight MEAC regular-season title.

“I always play better with my family in the stands because they are my worst critics,’’ said Sams. “I have no other choice but to play well. It was very important that I got out there and played. They told me if I didn’t play tonight they weren’t going to speak to me.”

Sams’ outing was satisfying because she had missed the previous two games with a leg injury. She has seven games this season, so N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs was happy to see her back after some late-season injuries caused other players to miss time as well.

“We were just happy to have Jaleesa back,’’ said Bibbs. “The way Jaleesa played tonight; I wish all of our players would have a busload of people come in every time we play. It was a great motivator for her, and it really gave her an emotional lift.”

The Aggies also got a lift from Ta’Wuana Cook. Cook came off the bench to score 12 points, dish out three assists and record three steals. Brittanie Taylor-James added 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the free throw line.

The Aggies began to break things open toward the end of the first half. After Howard center Tamaya Daniels scored on a layup to cut the Aggies lead to 32-28 with 1:45 to play, Cook answered with a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Aggies up seven. Cook followed her three by taking a long rebound off of a 3-point miss by Lonice Kenley and turning into a transition opportunity as she scored on a layup and was fouled by Jalisa Pullings.

Cook completed the 3-point play to give the Aggies a 38-28 lead with a minute remaining in the first half. The Aggies would go on to lead 40-30 at the half. They expanded that lead by going on a 10-0 run to start the second half. Reisha Bullock scored four points during the run to give the Aggies a 50-30 lead 2 ½ minutes into the half.

“You don’t know who you are going to have from game-to-game this time of the year,’’ said Bibbs. “It was better for us to go ahead and take care of business because we have some players that are not healthy. It’s very important that when we call on people to step up, they respond.”

The Aggies improved to 21-6 overall and 13-1 in the MEAC. They have two regular-season games remaining. They play at home against Hampton on Monday night at 6 and at Norfolk State Thursday night at 5:30. By virtue of earning the No. 1 seed, the Aggies will play their quarterfinal game Wednesday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m., from Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

“I feel comfortable that we will have people step up these last two games and contribute for us as we get ready for the tournament,’’ said Bibbs. “We certainly want to do our best to make sure we are fully loaded going into the tournament.”

[AggieGroove]

hey thrilla, I thought Jalessa Sams was a soph....or is she a jr?

[Bornthrilla]

Mar 1, 2009 16:25:51 GMT -5 AggieGroove said:

hey thrilla, I thought Jalessa Sams was a soph....or is she a jr?

The A&T website has her listed as a sophomore:

www.ncataggies.com/Womensbasketball/roster0809.htm

[Aggie One]

She's a sophomore.

[Bigboy]

When will they announce the player of the year in basketball. Whenever it is, if BT-J is not women's player of the year we need to revolt (or re-vote). She should be a sure-in but stranger things have happen when it involved someone from A&T!!!

[Aggie9195]

Tonight at the banquet! If not her then who?