Trisha Stafford-Odom Named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at North Carolina Central University

DURHAM, North Carolina – With a reputation as one of the nation's top recruiters and over 10 years of coaching experience, including local stints at UNC and Duke, Trisha Stafford-Odom was announced as North Carolina Central University's ninth head women's basketball coach on Monday, May 8.

"I am thrilled about having the opportunity to work with Coach Stafford-Odom," said NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree. "Her varied coaching and playing experiences in collegiate and professional sports will definitely help move our women's basketball program to the next level. These experiences will enable her to recruit the best scholar-athletes and provide them with the tools and quality coaching necessary to win championships."



The former Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player and collegiate hall of fame inductee returns to The Triangle to continue her head coaching career after last coaching three seasons at Concordia University Irvine from 2013-2016. Prior to that, Stafford-Odom was a successful assistant coach for four seasons with both the UNC Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils. She began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant for the UCLA Bruins.

"I am elated to be announced as North Carolina Central University's head women's basketball coach," said Stafford-Odom. "As I look to the future I see great things for us. I am very excited about the opportunity."

Stafford-Odom won the Concordia Eagles first conference championship in 18 years to highlight her time coaching in California. In her second season as head coach, CUI posted a 23-7 record and won the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Championship. She produced two All-Americans and was named the league's coach of the year.

As an assistant coach at UNC from 2011-2013, Stafford-Odom was a valuable recruiter for the No. 1 nationally-ranked recruiting class in 2013. She aided the development of two WNBA players, two ACC Players of the Year and two ACC Freshmen of the Year while working under the leadership of Naismith Hall of Fame coach Sylvia Hatchell.

Stafford-Odom brought her first No. 1 nationally-ranked recruiting class to Durham when she was an assistant at Duke from 2009-2011. The Blue Devils won the ACC Championship both seasons as she mentored WNBA draft picks, an ACC Tournament MVP, a two-time ACC Academic All-American and a ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

"We are definitely not strangers to Durham, North Carolina," said Stafford-Odom about her family. "It's the opposite coast for us, but we made it home several years ago. We are onto new and greater things by being at NCCU."

While at UCLA from 2005-2008, Stafford-Odom was the recruiting coordinator for a No. 3 nationally-ranked recruiting class her first season and went on to develop two top-5 WNBA draft picks and the Pac-10 Tournament MVP.

Stafford-Odom was enshrined into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. She led the Golden Bears to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances. She was a multiple All-Pac-10 honoree as well as a Kodak All-America honorable mention. Stafford-Odom averaged 15.3 points during her four seasons (sixth all-time at Cal) and led the Pac-10 in scoring with over 23 points her senior year.

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in mass communications in 1992, Stafford-Odom pursued a professional basketball playing career that included a couple years in the WNBA with Houston (2001) and Miami (2002) as well as time in the ABL, NWBL, NBDL, NBA Entertainment League and European leagues.

Stafford-Odom continued her education while coaching at Concordia Irvine and earned a Master of Arts degree in coaching and athletic administration in 2015, and continues to be a student in the assistant coaches program of the NBA.

"I am confident that the preparation I've had in coaching will help make me the most elite Division I basketball coach that I can be," concluded Odom-Stafford.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

FAMU coaching search down to final 3

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- After two months of searching, Florida A&M’s athletic department is closing in on its new men’s head basketball coach.

Athletic Director Milton Overton Jr. said on Monday the school is down to its final three in the search.

Robert McCullum, Pat Kennedy and Lindsey Hunter are the three finalists, he said. No “official or unofficial offer” has been made to any of the three. Overton said all three are undergoing background checks and he hopes to make a decision by the end of the week.

All three coaches come with strong backgrounds.

More:See who applied for the job

Hunter, 46, a two-time NBA champion, was the interim head coach for the Phoenix Suns and was also an assistant for the Golden State Warriors. He is an assistant at University of Buffalo.

Overton said of the 122 applicants for the job, roughly 15 were interviewed. He said now the department is doing its due diligence in terms of hiring its next coach.

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Nuggets climb to 7th; tournament bids announced Monday

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana made its fifth climb of the season Sunday in the NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 poll.

The Gold Nuggets moved from eighth to seventh. Their five climbs this season are their most since 2013.

Indiana Wesleyan, a 5-4 loser to XULA Feb. 18 in the Grizzly Invitational at Lawrenceville, Ga., aided the Gold Nuggets' ranking with a 5-4 victory Friday at Northwestern Ohio. UNOH fell from fifth to eighth.

XULA's ranking is its highest of the post-Nour Abbes era. Abbes, an consensus All-America player for the Gold Nuggets in 2014 and 2015, led the Gold Nuggets twice to the national semifinals.

The Gold Nuggets are the lone top-15 team with a losing record (7-13), but they have five victories against ranked opponents. All of XULA's losses are to ranked or NCAA Division I opponents.

XULA will learn by 5 p.m. Monday if it earned a bid to the NAIA National Championships May 16-20 at Mobile, Ala. The NAIA will announce Tuesday the seedings and the brackets for the event, which will consist of 24 women's teams and 24 men's teams.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through May 5)
Rank Team Record Points Last
1 Georgia Gwinnett (14) 21-0 374 1
2 Lindsey Wilson 19-4 362 2
3 SCAD Savannah 12-3 350 3
4 Keiser 12-7 337 4
5 San Diego Christian 15-3 319 6
6 William Carey 17-3 313 7
7 XULA 7-13 295 8
8 Northwestern Ohio 19-6 291 5
9 LSU-Alexandria 17-3 275 9
10 Indiana Wesleyan 31-7 272 12
11 Mobile 22-4 257 10
12 William Woods 11-9 248 11
13 Cardinal Stritch 15-5 231 13
14 Arizona Christian 17-8 218 14
15 Cumberlands 15-8 209 15
16 Lewis-Clark State 7-13 193 16
17 Middle Georgia 13-8 179 17
18 Davenport 14-10 167 18
19 Olivet Nazarene 10-11 154 19
20 SCAD Atlanta 12-6 148 20
21 Campbellsville 11-8 137 21
22 McPherson 12-2 107 23
23 Georgetown (Ky.) 16-7 105 25
24 St. Thomas (Fla.) 4-10 91 22
25 Tennessee Wesleyan 12-7 88 RV

Dropped from rankings: No. 24 Reinhardt
Others receiving votes: Marian (Ind.) 65, Reinhardt 57, Cumberland 50, Coastal Georgia 40, Brenau 19, Missouri Valley 12, Asbury 9, Southwestern (Kan.) 9, Southeastern (Fla.) 5, Biola 4

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Gold Nuggets will take their 11th trip to nationals

NEW ORLEANS — After achieving success against one of the nation's most challenging schedules, Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis was announced Monday as one of 24 teams selected for the NAIA National Championships.

The Gold Nuggets — 7-13 with five victories against ranked opponents — qualified for the sixth consecutive season, the ninth time in 10 years and the 11th time overall. XULA received one of 10 at-large bids.

The final pretournament step — the NAIA's announcement of the bracket and seedings — will occur Tuesday. The five-day tournament will begin May 16 at Mobile, Ala.

The top eight seeds will receive first-round byes and play their first matches May 17. The XULA women — No. 7 in the coaches poll announced Sunday — received a bye in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

All of the Gold Nuggets' losses this season are to ranked or NCAA Division I opponents.

A year ago the Gold Nuggets lost 5-2 to Northwestern Ohio in the first round. The Nuggets reached the national semifinals in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

This is the sixth consecutive year and the eighth time in nine years that both XULA tennis teams qualified for nationals. The XULA men received their ninth consecutive bid to nationals Monday.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Gold Rush do the two-step again in NAIA coaches poll

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana made its 85th consecutive top-25 appearance Sunday and remained No. 2 in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Poll.

The Gold Rush (11-5) have been No. 2 in all eight polls of 2017. This is the final ranking before Monday's announcement of the 24 men's teams and 24 women's teams that qualified for the NAIA National Championships. The NAIA will announce Tuesday the brackets and seedings.

XULA possesses the longest active NAIA streak of men's tennis top-25 appearances. The streak began April 4, 2007.

The national tourney will be played May 16-20 at Mobile, Ala.
The Gold Rush active poll streaks:

• 85 consecutive appearances in the top 25 . . . streak began April 4, 2007.
• 76 consecutive appearances in the top 20 . . . streak began April 30, 2008.
• 61 consecutive appearances in the top 15 . . . streak began Feb. 1, 2011.
• 55 consecutive appearances in the top 10 . . . streak began May 3, 2011.
• 17 consecutive appearances in the top 5 . . . streak began Jan. 26, 2016.
• 15 consecutive appearances in the top 3 . . . streak began March 1, 2016.
• 9 consecutive appearances in the top 2 . . . streak began May 25, 2016.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through May 5)
Rank Team Record Points Last
1 Georgia Gwinnett (14) 19-0 374 1
2 XULA 11-5 362 2
3 Keiser 18-4 350 3
4 Northwestern Ohio 21-1 338 4
5 Campbellsville 20-3 319 9
6 William Carey 17-5 315 6
7 Lindsey Wilson 16-6 299 5
8 Arizona Christian 15-12 289 7
9 William Woods 13-5 287 8
10 Cardinal Stritch 18-5 262 10
11 Mobile 22-4 254 11
12 Westmont 13-7 245 12
13 San Diego Christian 6-10 228 13
14 Coastal Georgia 14-7 218 14
15 Reinhardt 13-5 206 15
16 Middle Georgia 9-8 192 16
17 Tennessee Wesleyan 12-4 169 23
18 Olivet Nazarene 12-7 152 19
19 SCAD Savannah 8-8 150 20
20 Lawrence Tech 20-6 146 24
21 McPherson 12-3 122 21
22 Aquinas 17-7 120 17
23 Cumberland 7-6 116 22
24 SCAD Atlanta 11-4 114 18
25 St. Thomas (Fla.) 5-10 84 25

Dropped from rankings: none
Others receiving votes: Asbury 76, Warner 40, Davenport 30, Missouri Valley 25, Cumberlands 22, Judson (Ill.) 11, Point 10, Marian (Ind.) 10, Bethany (Kan.) 10, Lewis-Clark State 9

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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WSSU Rams Take Home 2017 CIAA Baseball Championship

PETERSBURG, Virginia -- The Winston-Salem State Rams defeated the Chowan Hawks twice on Saturday, to win the CIAA Baseball Championship on Saturday, 10-1 and 10-4.

In the first game, the WSSU Rams jumped on the Chowan pitcher early, as Ivan Acuna doubled to left field, scoring Randy Norris, as WSSU took a 1-0 lead.

The Rams added to their early lead in the third, W

hen Randal Ortiz drove in Brandon Ford and Landon Steiner drove in Ivan Acuna, to give the Rams a 3-0 lead in the third inning.

Chowan answered with their only run in the fourth inning, when Harry Markotay hit a sac fly to allowing Marvin Harrell to score.

BOX SCORE

In the fifth inning, WSSU opened it up more, by scoring three runs. Landon Steiner singled, scoring Emilio Abreu, while Willie McRae singled scoring Steiner. Randy Norris would double to left, allowing Michael McNamara to score, to give the Rams a 6-1 advantage.

WSSU added a run in the sixth, when Randal Ortiz singled down the right field line, allowing Ivan Acuna to score.

The Rams added another run in the eighth inning, when Emilio Abreu doubled down the left field line, scoring John Garcia.

In the ninth, Willie McRae singled scoring Landon Steiner, and Michael McNamara would score on a wild pitch to finish the games scoring, as the Rams took the important win to force a second game, 10-1.

Willie McRae went two for five with two runs batted in, Landon Steiner went two for four with two runs batted in and two runs scored, Randal Ortriz went one for four with two runs batted in and Ivan Acuna went one for four with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Randy Norris went three for six with a run scored and a run batted in and Emilio Abreu went two for three with a run scored and a run batted in. Michael McNamara went two for four with two runs scored, while Brandon Ford went one for six with a run scored and John Garcia also scored a run. Randy Norris, Ivan Acuna, Emilio Abreu and Michael McNamara each had doubles.

Jordan Carlton got the win in pitching a gem for the Rams, pitching a complete game, going nine innings, allowing just one run and four hits, while striking out eight.

In game two, the deciding game, the Rams broke the game open in the first inning, as Emilio Abreu singled scoring Brandon Ford, and Randal Ortiz doubled, scoring Ivan Acuna. Landon Steiner doubled scoring Emilio Abreu.

In the second inning, Emilio Abreu hit a three run home run, to push the Rams out in front 7-0.

The Chowan Hawks answered with three runs in the third inning, to cut into the Rams lead, 7-3.

In the fourth inning, WSSU added to their lead, as Randal Ortiz singled to left, scoring Brandon Ford and Landon Steiner singld to center, allowing Emilio Abreu to score.

WSSU scored another run in the fifth, when Ivan Acuna doubled to left field, scoring John Garcia.

Chowan added a run in the eighth inning, when Tyler Jones singled, scoring Robert Williams.

Kanoa Hironaka shut down the hawks the rest of the way, en route to the Rams becoming the 2017 CIAA Baseball Champions for the sixth time in seven years.

Emilio Abreu led the Rams, going three for five with four runs batted in and three runs scored, and Landon Steiner went two for four with three runs batted in. Randal Ortiz finished two for four with a run scored and two runs batted in. Ivan Acuna went three for five with two runs scored and one run batted in. Randy Norris went one for five and Brandon Ford went one for two three runs scored. 

Michael McNamara went one for four and John Garcia also scored a run. Ivan Acuna, Randal Ortiz and Landon Steiner each had a double, and Emilio Abreu had a home run.

Kanoa Hironaka go the win, pitching a complete game, allowing 10 hits and four runs, while striking out eight.

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Benedict Wins SIAC Women's Track & Field Championship

ALBANY, Georgia – The Benedict College women's track & field team won the 2017 SIAC Championship on Saturday, winning seven events on the final day to surge to the top of the team standings.

Benedict won a total of nine events over the three days of competition and finished with 216 total points. Albany State finished second with 187 points and Clark Atlanta was third with 179.5 points.

Jenella John had a strong championship, winning the 800 meter run, the 1500 meter run, the 5000 meter run and the 3000 meter steeplechase for a total of 40 points. John won the 800 meter race by 14 seconds, the 1500 meter race by 18 seconds, the 5000 meter race by nearly 33 seconds and the steeplechase by more than 24 seconds.

Brianna Frazier won the women's 200 meter dash, the 400 meter dash and the triple jump. She also finished third in the long jump to earn 36 total points.

Benedict also won both relay races, capturing the 4x100 and the 4x400 races. Benedict dominated the 4x400 race, beating second-place Clark Atlanta by nearly six seconds.

Benedict took the top three spots in the 400 meter dash, with Phoebe Johnson finishing second and Sorenya Miller finishing third. Johnson also finished second in the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash.

Lea Tshikaya finished second in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. Princess Hammett finished third in the 100-meter hurdles.

Dae'Shondra Stephens finished second in the hammer throw and was fourth in the discus.

BENEDICT TIGERS SPORTS INFORMATION