There are 15 banners hanging in the rafters inside Trask Coliseum. Retired jerseys, NCAA Tournament appearances, NIT berths and CAA championships all boast the success of UNC Wilmington basketball.

None of them belong to the UNCW women’s basketball team, though. The program has been overshadowed by the success of the men’s team in the early 2000s.

This season is different. The Seahawk men are finished while their female counterparts have life after the CAA Tournament, as they received an at-large bid to the WNIT. That means the gym will soon receive the best type of decoration coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke could ask for.

“We’ll be able to raise a banner finally on our side of Trask Coliseum,” Cooper-Dyke said emphatically with a smile.

The Seahawks have several achievements to brag about this season. Cooper-Dyke was awarded CAA coach of the year, freshman Alisha Andrews was named CAA rookie of the year and seniors Brittany Blackwell and Martha White earned spots on the CAA first and second teams, respectively.

None of those compare to making a postseason tournament for the first time. “We’re extremely excited to be playing in the postseason because we believe that we deserve to be playing in the postseason,” Cooper-Dyke said. “We had more wins this year than any other team in the history of the lady Seahawks and Seahawk basketball, so we’re excited.”

UNCW will play a much more playoff-experienced team, Thursday, in the first round of the WNIT. Richmond (18-11, 9-6 A-10 Conference) is returning to the tournament for the third consecutive year. The Spiders are 7-7 all-time in the WNIT.

“We feel like we match up pretty well with them. In order to win, we have to go play our style of basketball,” Cooper-Dyke said. “I really want to make this game against Richmond about them stopping us as opposed to us worrying about them.”

Although the Seahawks and Spiders haven’t played against each other since Richmond left the CAA 10 years ago, both will have extensive scouting reports on their first round foe.

UNCW and Richmond have each played Charlotte, VCU, Old Dominion, William & Mary and Towson at least once this season. Cooper-Dyke said she has already watched film from the Spiders’ games against CAA opponents. Richmond was 4-0 in those contests with an average margin of victory of 15.75 points. The Seahawks also fared well, finishing 5-2—after playing Towson, VCU and William & Mary twice.

Blackwell and White both reiterated Cooper-Dyke’s desire to be the aggressor and set a favorable tempo early in the game, things UNCW failed to do in the conference tournament, resulting in a semifinal exit.

“We really didn’t play our style of basketball in the tournament and this is kind of a second chance, so we need to take advantage of it,” Blackwell said.

Her fellow senior forward agreed. “I think we do have a lot of unfinished business,” White said. “In the (CAA) tournament, we didn’t play our best style of basketball and even before the tournament we wasn’t playing our best style of basketball. I think now it’s time to get that nasty taste out of our mouth.”

Participating in March Madness is unchartered territory, but the Seahawks welcome the new experience. “It’s kinda weird practicing now because it’s so late,” Blackwell said. “But I’m very grateful for it and happy that we made it to the NIT.”

White continued the parade of gratitude. “In the tournament these past three years, we watched the seniors go off in the CAA Tournament and watched that be their last game,” she said. “For us, I feel grateful that it wasn’t our last game even though we lost in the tournament.”

Although the Seahawks have already cemented their place in UNCW basketball history this season, they aren’t content. History can continue to be made in the WNIT. However, Cooper-Dyke is taking everything one game at a time. “We’re ready to go,” she said. “We’re going to go up to Richmond and give it our all.”