When the N.C. A&T lady basketball team lost in the first round of the Middle Eastern Athletic Conference tournament on March 10, on paper the season was to end the following week .

There has only been three recent MEAC teams that have won in the postseason of a national tournament, for a total of just three wins (Coppin State Men ’95, Coppin State Women ’06, Hampton Men ’00) – none by A&T.

But history wasn’t enough to convince the Lady Aggies (23-10) that they did not have a chance to be playing in the third round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament this Thursday.

It’s the longest any HBCU basketball team has lasted in a national postseason and an unfamiliar territory for the blue-and-gold with just 16 teams left playing in the WNIT.

Despite the newness of the situation, the Lady Aggies remain confident heading into their Thursday road game against the University of Miami Hurricanes.

“I know Miami is probably like ‘who the hell is ‘A&T?’ ” said senior guard Tweet Cook in a phone interview Tuesday.

“The team after we beat Miami probably ain’t going to know who we are either.”

“It’s like we continue to be the underdog just to make a statement.  That’s kind of how we get our name out there, you know. That’s basically our motivation.”

And with their current two-game winning streak since the upset loss to South Carolina State in the MEAC tournament, it’s safe to say they may have shocked some women’s basketball fans based on the perennially powerful teams they’ve handled.

They dominated a Wake Forest team that finished in the top half of the ACC on Thursday at Reynolds Coliseum 73-49, and then followed that with a victory over a Charlotte 49ers squad that made a trip to the NCAA tournament last season after nearly winning their conference.

“We have a lot of confidence right now because we believe we can go out and play well against any level of competition,” said Crystal Murdaugh after Sunday’s victory in Charlotte.

Cook was more specific about their first round victory over the Demon Deacons.

“We had wanted to play Wake Forest my whole four years but coach (Mike Petersen) never wanted to play us,” Cook said. “I guess he was afraid to play us because we were beating teams. So we had a chance to prove ourselves because they were the only team we hadn’t played yet.”

The ladies are well aware that it’s important for them to continue competing with the higher-profile Division I programs to help HBCU schools gain respect and exposure.

“People don’t really know about us,” Cook said.

“And then Hampton went in –– and they didn’t help make us look any better playing Duke.

They just got straight-up blown out. We’re not just representing only our school, but the MEAC.”

• Daniel Henderson