The Benedict women’s basketball team waited two years for the chance of a lifetime
There aren’t many individual accolades Ay’Anna Bey hasn’t accomplished since she arrived at Benedict College.
The New Jersey native is a two-time SIAC Player of the Year and Benedict’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Bey will be able to cross off another item from her checklist this week — playing in an NCAA tournament game.
Benedict, winners of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, will take on Lee at the South Region in the NCAA Division II tournament’s first round Friday.
“It’s very important because it is something that I can accomplish with my teammates, see what the next level is like with them,” Bey said after practice Tuesday. “It definitely is going to be a new experience.”
The Tigers boarded a bus at 4 a.m. Wednesday for the 578-mile trip to Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where the tournament’s South Region games are being held.
According to NCAA rules, teams located less than 600 miles from tournament site have to travel by bus. Teams more than 600 miles away can travel by plane.
Members of Benedict’s booster club dropped off snacks and drinks for the trip at the trip end of practice Tuesday.
“It is what it is,” Bey said. “We had to take a long ride to Lane College, so we have been on trips like this before.”
Bey is part of the senior-laden team that includes several Midlands high school alums — Shanassia White (Calhoun County), Kamryn Bostick (Blythewood) and Keondra Archie (Lower Richland). White is the only one on the roster who was part of the 2016-17 team that went to the NCAA regionals.
Because of the COVID pandemic, White had one extra semester of eligibility and rejoined the team in January, playing in 13 games.
“We got another chance to go for it again, and we’ve just got to be ready,” White said.
“We call her the Lord of the Rings,” Benedict coach James Rice said of White. “That was her third championship. She knows the system, defensively and offensively. She is not selfish and is a really good ball player. I’m happy she came back.”
Benedict earned the trip to the tournament by defeating Savannah State 71-69 on Saturday in the SIAC tournament championship at the Rock Hill Events Center. The Tigers rallied from a 10-point deficit with 7:45 to play.
It was Benedict’s second tournament championship in the last three years. The 2020 NCAA Division II tournament was canceled because of COVID-19. The SIAC last year did not play a conference schedule or a conference tournament.
Bey and her teammates from the 2020 Tigers remember that moment two years ago when they were practicing for their first-round game in Tennessee and coach James Rice broke the cancellation news to the players.
“There were a lot of tears. I think we cried the whole day,” Bey said. “We went out to a big dinner. It was just one of those things where you didn’t know where the last time you would play with your teammates again. We didn’t get to experience that feeling.”
Telling his team that they couldn’t play in the tournament was one of the hardest things he’s done as a coach, Rice said. He had to double-check with Benedict sports information director Dennis Switzer to make sure the tournament was being shut down.
“Just thinking about it hurts,” Rice said. “That was a tough one for the young ladies, all the work they put in to be snatched out in front of them.
“But now to get a chance to play, and that same core is still there. ... We got a chance to redeem ourselves, so let’s go out and have fun.”
Division II tournament, women’s South Region schedule
Friday
Game 1: Lee vs. Benedict, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Tampa vs. Valdosta State, 3:30 p.m.
Game 3: Union vs. Savannah State, 6 p.m.
Game 4: Florida Southern vs. Eckerd, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:30 p.m.
Monday
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8 p.m.
