After being tied for second place in the conference with Morgan

State last season, A&T women’s basketball team plans to take

the next step and become MEAC champions even though they are picked

to finish third this season.

After being tied for second place in the conference with Morgan State last season, A&T women’s basketball team plans to take the next step and become MEAC champions even though they are picked to finish third this season.

Last season the Aggies ended the season with a record of 15-14, which was good enough to earn them a ticket to the conference title game.

Though they did not win, hopes are high this year with six returning players and new freshmen.

When head Coach Patricia C. Bibbs was asked what her goals were for the team this season, she replied, “undefeated.”

The goal is for the Aggies to win both the conference and tournament this season, and playing good team basketball is the way for the team to achieve this goal.

However there are some challenges this season. For one, they have a young team with no seniors. Coach Bibbs believes that they have the right team to go on a nice run this year, especially considering the strong leadership in the team’s head captains, Jessica Lyons and Tiffanie Adair. Last season’s leading scorer, Jaquayla Berry, seems to be quite optimistic about the upcoming season. “The team is progressing very well…we have a lot of talent.”

A key improvement that the team has made is in speed. Being able to run up and down the court is a good advantage to have when playing basketball, and when in such a difficult conference a team needs all the advantages they can get. The team has also been working on playing better defense because, “defense wins championships,” said Bibbs.

A veteran head coach is not a bad thing to have either. Gibbs is only 14 wins away from the 500-win mark, which is an amazing feat for a head coach. The Aggies are a confident team this year.

“We are looking forward to playing every team on the schedule, no one team more than the other, but one game at a time,” the Bibbs assured.

Their first tournament is Nov. 11-12 in Rochelle, New York where they will take on Iona on Friday at 11 a.m.

The first home game is will be Nov. 15 in Corbett Sports Center against Virginia Union.

“It’s going to be an exciting season,” Berry said.

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• U’Leasa Joseph, Contributor