The McNeese women’s basketball team will play Texas A&M in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) on Thursday, March 19. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas, and will be streamed on ESPN+.
This marks McNeese’s first postseason appearance since 2016 and both teams’ debut in the WBIT. The Cowgirls earned an automatic bid after winning the Southland Conference regular season title, while Texas A&M qualified as one of the “First Four Out” from the NCAA Tournament bracket.
McNeese enters the tournament with a record-setting season, posting a school-best 28 wins and achieving their third regular season conference title in program history. The team has won 21 of its last 22 games and set a program record with a 21-game winning streak between December and March. Head Coach Ayla Guzzardo, who joined McNeese this season along with nine players from her previous Southeastern team and her entire staff, has led the Cowgirls to their best turnaround in Division I this year—an improvement of 18 wins over last season’s record.
The matchup against Texas A&M will be the twelfth meeting between the two programs. The Aggies lead the series 9-2 and defeated McNeese in their only previous postseason encounter during the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament—the same year Texas A&M won its only national championship. The last time McNeese beat Texas A&M was during the 1979-80 season.
Several individual achievements highlight McNeese’s roster: Jalencia Pierre is a three-time Southland Defensive Player of the Year; Dakota Howard leads as a freshman scorer; Arianna Patton tops three-pointers made; and Pierre also ranks nationally for assists-to-turnover ratio. The Cowgirls are ranked among the top teams nationally in several statistical categories including turnover margin, scoring defense, steals per game, and assist/turnover ratio.
Looking ahead, Coach Guzzardo said she is proud to have reached her 150th career win with this squad and noted that she is tied for best turnaround among first-year head coaches nationwide.
