Charlotte women’s basketball is 2 wins away from its first NCAA tournament since 2009

The Charlotte 49ers’ women’s basketball team is two wins away from doing something it hasn’t in 13 years – reach the NCAA tournament.

The top-seeded Niners eliminated Rice in the quarterfinals of the league’s tournament Thursday, 59-53. Consider that victory a relief from the regular-season matchup when Charlotte needed two Octavia Jett-Wilson buzzer-beaters to escape the Owls in four overtimes.

Thursday, senior Mikayla Boykin led all scorers with 20 points and five rebounds, followed by Jett-Wilson’s 16 points and two steals in the quarterfinals win. The 49ers overcame a 15-turnover performance, holding the Owls to just 32 percent shooting from the field.

“Our defense in the last three quarters was just outstanding, and that’s what we hang our hat on,” Conference USA Coach of the Year Cara Consuegra said. “I told the team in the locker room that I really had no doubt we would win this game. There are so many situations that we’ve been through this season. At the end of the day, I could see in our kids’ eyes that they were confident and knew that they would win this game, and they did.”

A successful season for the 49ers — one that’s seen their win total double from a year ago — has been spurred by two players, Jett-Wilson, who has won back-to-back C-USA Player of the Year honors, and Kentucky transfer KeKe McKinney.

“I had it made up in my mind that I had to get it. It was kind of a determination thing,” Jett-Wilson said about the award. “Once I found out, I was excited. It gave me that extra oomph going into the tournament to get the job done.”

McKinney, the conference’s defensive player of the year, has 68 blocks on the season, four in the win, serving as a safety net inside for the 49ers. Her key free throws with 28 seconds to play iced the game, propelling the 49ers to the next round.

“If a guard gets blown by, we don’t worry about it. We know KeKe is back there,” Jett-Wilson said. “Even when we’re struggling defensively, just knowing that she can get the stop gives us momentum.”

The senior duo has led the 49ers by combining to average 24.9 points and 12.9 rebounds per game this season. Winning the C-USA regular-season title and nearly sweeping the league’s annual awards has created an emotional high for these two players, but the success wasn’t without adversity.

Charlotte started the year with a 4-6 non-conference record, including a 56-point home loss to UNC, and struggled to find consistency, mired by postponements and cancellations. The 49ers responded to nearly a month of rescheduled games with five consecutive wins to open conference play, establishing themselves as the team to beat in C-USA.

Now they’re steps away from doing something that the program has done only twice in its history – make the NCAA Tournament.

“It would mean everything,” Jett-Wilson said about making the tournament. “It was another reason why I came back (for her fifth year). I know I want a ring as bad as coach Cara wants one. We all want it.”

For a regular season that started with a highlight before a rough stretch — Consuegra became the program’s all-time winningest coach with her 176th victory in the first game of the season — it ended with one, too; Consuegra led the 49ers to a conference title for the first time in her 11 seasons.

“This was really hard-earned. This didn’t come easy,” Consuegra said. “I told them in the locker room to enjoy because these moments don’t come easy. They need to enjoy it, be proud of themselves and know we all did this together. This is a total team effort. Everybody bought in, everybody believed and today we’re the champions and that feels really good to say.”

Charlotte’s best basketball has come on the defensive side, leading the league in opponent field goal percentage, blocks and 3-point defense. The Niners rank third in the nation in three-point defense, holding opponents to just 23.9% from beyond the arc.

The 49ers advance to the C-USA semifinals where they will face North Texas at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Jett-Wilson was just 10 years old the last time the 49ers made the NCAA tournament in 2009. But the Greenbelt, Maryland native believes she can lead them back.

“It’s scary. It’s a scary sight,” Jett-Wilson said. “Once I get the hot hand in a situation like that, It’s hard to get me out of my rhythm. At that point, I’m already in kill mode. When everybody is buying into what we’re doing, it’s hard to stop us. It might almost be impossible when we get it all together.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 2:42 PM.