The Troy Trojans women’s basketball team are gearing up for their second consecutive WNIT appearance next week. 

This mark’s Troy’s fourth ever appearance in the WNIT and ninth total postseason appearance under head coach Chanda Rigby. In fact, Rigby has led her Trojans to postseason tournaments in nine of the last 11 seasons. It’s also just the third time ever that the men’s and women’s teams have made postseason tournaments in the same year. 

The Troy women got a chance to wish the men’s team well as they departed for the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday. 

“We got to see the men off for the NCAA Tournament and got to cheer them on as the bus was leaving and then we came right back in the arena and continued on with our practice we were having as we prepare to compete in the WNIT,” Rigby said on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of excitement around Troy right now. The big thing here is that it’s ‘One Troy.’ So much going on great here from the men’s and women’s basketball teams to baseball and softball, everything that’s going on seems to be succeeding. It’s a great time to be a Trojan.” 

Troy won’t get to know who they play, or where they play, until after Saturday’s first round games as the Trojans earned a first round bye. Troy will play the winner of Chattanooga vs. Alabama A&M.

“We will get together as a team on Saturday and watch the game and then go from there and make a plan,” Rigby said. “We’re hoping to have that first game at home and won’t have confirmation on that until after the (first round) game, too. We’re taking the bye in this situation as a plus and we’re preparing for both teams. We’re just trying to polish our apple to get as good as we can right now.”

Rigby shared some frustrations with the way the NCAA Tournament handles mid-major bids and suggested that the WNIT could be seen as a Mid-Major National Championship in the coming years because of that.

“There are so many good teams in this tournament, it’s just my opinion but I do believe the WNIT is becoming the Mid-Major National Championship,” she emphasized. “So many things like JMU not getting into the NCAA Tournament with a 51-net and the 26th toughest strength of seclude in the nation, they didn’t lose a single conference game (in the regular season) and lost to three Power 4 teams. (The Sun Belt) still didn’t get a second team in the NCAA Tournament despite that.

“I think it’s very obvious that it’s set up to keep just a very, very few mid-major teams in that tournament. So, we are taking a lot of pride that this is a national championship. We are playing for a national championship and we think if things keep going the way they are, it could (officially) be deemed the Mid-Major National Championship in years to come.” 

Rigby said that while players will certainly be disappointed with missing the NCAA Tournament, they have to take pride in still having the opportunity to play in the postseason.

“Last year, when we were going into the WNIT I labeled it the ‘Tournament of Broken Hearts’ and that’s how I sold it to the team. Everybody who gets into the WNIT just had their hearts broken or else they’d be in the NCAA Tournament,” she continued. “So, it’s who can get up and make the most of that? To begin with, they’re not excited for that. You have to take a step back because the thing you worked so hard for you didn’t get. We have little dry erase boards that we put our most important thought of the day on. We put on there today that we’re the masters of second chances. Most things that are worthwhile didn’t happen on the first chance.”

Rigby used her own personal struggles as motivation when relaying the message about second chances to her players.

“I told them that I applied to 54 college programs before I got the job at Troy,” Rigby flatly said. “I got a ton of ‘Nos’ before I got the ‘Yes’ here. That wouldn’t have happened if I just crashed after that first no. I went into that first interview and they told me that I wasn’t good enough or that I didn’t have the right experience.

“What if I didn’t get up after that first no or the next or the next or the next? That’s what we’re trying to teach them through this. We got our hearts broken but we’re not that little immature kid on the playground that just wants to take our ball and go home. We have a great opportunity before us, a second chance that two thirds of teams in the nation do not have right now. We want to be the masters of second chances and if we can teach that lesson well with this, it will serve them well in life after, as well.”