EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T women's basketball enters a new era again this season with the Colonial Athletic Association.

It's the third new conference for the Aggies in the last three seasons. Last season, A&T played in its only season in the Big South Conference and then competed in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in the 39 seasons prior.

While it is hard to evaluate the Aggies time in the Big South because of the brevity of their stay, the Aggies were wildly successful in the MEAC. They won more regular-season championships, 10, than any other MEAC team in history. They also won five MEAC tournaments. They also represented the conference in the NCAA five times and the postseason WNIT four times. 

But to do those things, the Aggies had to win the regular season or the tournament on most occasions. Now they move into the league in the CAA, where they may not have to do either to make the postseason. 

In 2022, the CAA was the country's 14th-ranked women's basketball conference, making the league one of the best mid-major conferences in college basketball. That means winning a few games outside the conference and a good showing in the league could earn a team an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT. 

"It was tough transitioning from the MEAC because of the history that I have as a (men's basketball) player and a coach," said head coach Tarrell Robinson. "You'll miss the environment, doubleheader games, and bands. All that stuff is meaningful. But then there's the professional side of it. You understand this move allows us to recruit the type of young women who will put our program in a position where we're not just getting an automatic bid by winning the tournament to make it to the NCAA. Instead, we can get an at-large bid. 

And now that you have that at-large bid, you have a chance to advance in the tournament. The move becomes a no-brainer when you think about being in a conference that is more than a one-bid league in terms of the NCAA tournament and the opportunities that presents."

Robinson returns for his 11th season, and his 17th overall at A&T. He served as an assistant coach for the women's program from 2005-09. He was a graduate assistant for the men's program from 2001-03.

Robinson needs three wins to break Tim Abney's program record for coaching victories. From 1987-99, Abney posted a 191-172 record, including a 116-87 MEAC record. Robinson enters the season 189-108 overall, including a 116-87 MEAC record and an 11-7 Big South record. Robinson needs 11 wins to become the third coach in A&T history – men or women – to secure 200 victories at the school. 

While Robinson understands what opportunities lie ahead, a season will be played in 2022-23. The CAA is a league unfamiliar with the Aggies, which could have played a part in the CAA preseason poll, where the league picked the Aggies to finish ninth in their inaugural season. Graduate center Jazmin Harris earned second-team preseason All-CAA accolades. 

But there is much more to an Aggies team poised to make some noise in the CAA in Year 1. The Aggies return six players from last season and welcome eight newcomers, including five transfers. 

Returners

Harris returns for her COVID year and her second season at A&T. Harris ranked 13th in the conference in scoring (13.1 ppg), 12th in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and third in blocked shots (1.2). Harris recorded her first double-double at A&T with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Elon on Nov. 22. In an exhibition game against Christopher Newport during the preseason, Harris finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. 

"It's always great when a kid comes back for their COVID year," Robinson said. "She could have had the opportunity to go pro or come back for the COVID year with any school in the country. Her coming back gives me a sense of buy-in. I can push her a little more and hold her accountable. She'll be a big piece of hopefully more of our success this season."

D'Mya Tucker, who will serve as one of the team captains, returns for her third season. Tucker averaged 5.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in her sophomore season. She went 3-for-3 from 3-point range against CNU during the exhibition game. 

Tucker will be a part of an essential three-guard lineup that includes sophomore Jordyn Dorsey and transfer Maleia Bracone. Dorsey had an outstanding freshman season and landed herself on the Big South's all-freshman team by averaging 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She should take over the point guard duties after the departures of Shareka McNeill and Sean Kelly Darks. 

"Who we are going to be this year is going to be based on those three young women," Robinson said. "Jordyn Dorsey, this year for her is going to be different as she has more responsibility in the position she's going to play. She'll be the starting point guard this year, a position she will naturally be able to enter. Last year, we wanted her to play off the ball, which I don't think that was comfortable for her. She's a distributor. She likes to have the ball in her hands to make plays. So she'll have the opportunity to do that."

The Aggies other four returners include junior forward Levossie Taylor, sophomore Nahndi Smith, forward Nina Worthey and center Chaniya Clark. Taylor averaged 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 13 games. Smith played in six games and recorded six points in her freshman season. Worthey sat out last season along with Clark. The Aggies have big plans for both during the 2022-23 season as Clark continues to recover from injury. 

Transfers 

Robinson added two transfers from Presbyterian College, including Bracone. Nyah Willis also came to A&T from Presbyterian. Bracone played two seasons at PC. In 29 games last season, she averaged 10.6 points, 2.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 4.6 rebounds. During the exhibition game against CNU, she posted 28 points, seven assists, and six rebounds on 10-for-16 shooting from the field and 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. 

"Maleia Bracone is at the top of the list in terms of her talent and her ability," Robinson said. "I respected the type of player she was at Presbyterian. She was someone who we were always concerned about in our scout. It was a no-brainer for us when she jumped into the portal."

Willis played two seasons at Presbyterian and one season at Chabot College. Willis averaged 8.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 30 games played last season at Presbyterian. 

Talia Davis is a transfer from New Hampshire. In her freshman season, she played in 26 games with seven starts, averaging 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds on 39.8 percent shooting. Laila Acox is a freshman transfer playing her only collegiate season at East Carolina. She played 74 minutes over 11 games. 

"Talia Davis is a really good shooter from the perimeter and very fundamentally sound kid with a high basketball IQ," Robinson said. "Laila Acox can impact us. I think she has a really good skill set as a forward."

The final transfer is Ashuntee Weems from Jacksonville State. She played 30 minutes over nine games. Robinson said his staff recruited Weems before she signed with JSU. He calls her a shifty guard, who is another primary ball handler who can assist Dorsey at the point guard position. 

Freshmen 

The Aggies added twin sisters Taliya Council and Tamyra Council out of Lumberton, N.C. Taliya averaged 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game at St. Paul's High School. She secured first-team all-conference and first-team All-Robeson County. Tamyra averaged 8.2 points, and 7.6 rebounds to earn first-team all-conference and first-team All-Robeson County honors.
 

Keona Curtis (Grovetown, Ga.) is a Regional 3-AAAAAA player of the year and earned an ESPN 3 Star: 90 grade. In addition, she received GACA 6A South All-State and first-team All-Columbia County honors. She was also named Columbia County player of the year. 
 

In her junior season, she averaged 13.2 points and 10.4 rebounds.

"One freshman standing above all of them is Keona Curtis," Robinson said. "She's going to put herself in the position to get the type of minutes that she may make an all-rookie team."