Women's Basketball competes for 2024 GCAC Tournament Title
The Wiley University women's basketball team heads to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, looking to win its first Gulf Coast Athletic Conference tournament title at the 2024 Hope Credit Union GCAC Women's Basketball Championship hosted by Stillman College.
The Lady Wildcats (11-15) earned the seventh seed after finishing GCAC play 6-12 and placing second in a three-team tiebreaker with Talladega College and Tougaloo College. They will face the tenth seed Southern University at New Orleans in the opening round at noon on Wednesday in Stillman College's Birthright Alumni Hall. The winner will face the No. 2 seed Philander Smith University in the quarterfinals at noon on Thursday.
All the GCAC Championship games will stream on the GCAC channel on HBCU Plus, a free application that can be viewed online or downloaded on mobile devices and smart TVs.
Wednesday's opening round will be the first time Wiley has taken the court since playing at Tougaloo College on February 10. It forfeited its last three games against the University of the Virgin Islands (Feb. 12), Philander Smith University (Feb. 17) and Talladega College (Feb. 21) for disciplinary reasons.
The Lady Wildcats are seeking their first on-court victory since beating Tougaloo in overtime on January 6. They picked up a forfeit over SUNO due to it not having enough players to compete. Wiley has lost its last eight games.
Jamiya Eaddy led the Lady Wildcats with 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She missed eight games due to injury and hasn't played since February 1. Ashunti Cooper won GCAC Player of the Week for January 15-21. She scored in double figures in six games with four during GCAC play. Cooper scored a career-high 23 against Dillard on January 19. She has eight games with three or more steals. Kiersten Harris ranks fifth in the GCAC with 3.1 assists per game. She has three or more assists in 16 games. Cailan Hale has started all 15 GCAC games. She has six games with double-figure scoring. In 11 games, Hale recorded five or more rebounds.
Eaddy, Harris, Jay'lann Myles and Minnie Miller hope to extend their playing careers as they will graduate in May. Harris, Myles and Miller are in their third season.
Southern-New Orleans (2-24) enters the tournament on an eight-game losing streak. Its only victories were against Virgin Islands. The Lady Knights haven't suited more than seven players all season. They've mostly played with five or six.
Jordan Harris led the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game. McKenna Harris followed with 10.6 points per game. Aalexuz Bourne leads the team in rebounds with 10.8 per game.
Wiley won in overtime at SUNO 85-75 on December 2. It has won all seven games against the Lady Knights since 2013. Wednesday will be the first time they've met in the postseason.
The semifinals will be at noon on Saturday against the winner between No. 3 Fisk University and No. 6 Talladega. The championship game is at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Lady Wildcats are making their second appearance in the GCAC Tournament. They fell in the quarterfinals against Dillard University last season. Wiley is seeking its first tournament title since winning the 2013 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit Women's Basketball - Wiley University (wileyathletics.com)
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