Wake Forest women will play on campus tonight

Deacons to take on Aggies at Reynolds Gym in NIT game

By: By John Dell | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: March 18, 2010

The Wake Forest women are going old school for the Women's NIT.

Joel Coliseum and the Annex are booked, so the Deacons will play N.C. A&T in today's first round in Reynolds Gym, a small, on-campus facility that seats about 1,200. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

"Its throwback Thursday," Coach Mike Petersen said.

The Deacons (18-13) had hoped for an NCAA Tournament bid after a fifth-place finish in the ACC, but when that didn't come, Petersen wasted no time getting his team to shift its focus to the WNIT.

"Absolutely we were disappointed that we didn't do enough," Petersen said of missing the NCAA Tournament. "We finished fifth in the ACC, and that's pretty good, but it wasn't enough, and that's on us. Now we just need to refocus because we've been given an opportunity to play in the postseason, and it's an opportunity we want to take advantage of."

The Deacons are in a postseason tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time. They also played in the WNIT last season, getting a first-round bye and losing 72-61 to Georgetown in the second round. This season, the field was expanded from 48 teams to 64.

Petersen said he has presented his team with a challenge. "I just told them if you think that you should have been in the NCAA Tournament, then show people by winning six games," he said.

Brittany Waters (13.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Secily Ray (11.3 ppg) lead the Deacons. Freshman center Sandra Garcia, a freshman (9.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) also plays a key role but is a little banged up and might not be 100 percent, Petersen said.

N.C. A&T (21-10) was in Winston-Salem last week for the MEAC Tournament at Joel Coliseum but had little success. The Aggies, 2009 MEAC champions, lost 62-61 to S.C. State in the quarterfinals on a last-second shot. Ta'Wuana Cook (16.6 ppg), Jalessa Sams (11.1 ppg) and Amber Calvin (10.1) are the top scorers for Coach Patricia Bibbs.

"I know they won 21 games, and I know they were the regular-season champions in the MEAC," Petersen said. "And I know they've got a good basketball team."

The winner of tonight's game will play either UNC Charlotte or Gardner-Webb in the second round.

Note: Tickets for tonight's game are $7 for adults and $4 for students and seniors. For more information, call 1-888-758-3322.