On a Mission: Aggie women want in NCAA Tournament

The rising tide that is the N.C. A&T women's program has continued under the patient guidance of Coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. The Aggies, seeded No. 1 for this week's MEAC Tournament, are favorites because everything seems to be pointing in their direction. They have talent galore, senior leaders in Amber Bland and Brittanie Taylor-James, a veteran coach who has been to the NCAA Tournament six times and a pseudo homecourt advantage.

"It's been a tough one," Cage-Bibbs said about the steady rise of her program. "We have just been truly blessed getting these players here who were highly-recruited. People don't really realize it's not automatic because you don't know from Day 1 if one kid might go out or whatever."

Patricia Cage-Bibbs’ Aggies are the No. 1 seed in this week’s MEAC Tournament.

Cage-Bibbs, who is in her fourth season at A&T after stops at Grambling and Hampton, shook up the program pretty well when she was first hired. She got rid of most of the returning players and hit the recruiting trail hard. This season has been one of her best. Earlier this season, she collected her 400th career win. Her six NCAA appearances came at Grambling and Hampton, and in 23 seasons of coaching, Cage-Bibbs has had just four teams finish with losing records.

The Aggies fell short of the NCAA Tournament last season, losing in the MEAC final to Coppin State. Bland, who is the second-leading scorer in school history with more than 1,500 points, says that getting to the NCAA Tournament is something the players have talked about all season. "Seeing how we had a letdown last year losing in the tournament championship game, we all came back with one mission and that's to go forward," Bland said. "Now we want to go to the NCAA Tournament and to do that we have to win the MEAC Tournament, so we want to get that respect from our league."

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