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Fresh off its first conference championship in 15 years, the N.C. A&T women's basketball team has been invited to play in the Preseason NIT this November.

"An invite to a tournament of this magnitude is truly an honor,'' said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, who is heading into her fifth season. "Out of roughly 300 Division I schools, we are one of 16 teams invited. It shows the women's college basketball world is paying attention to this program and what it has accomplished over the past few seasons. This will be an outstanding experience for my ladies."

Ten of the 16 teams in the field played in the NCAA tournament last season, including Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Tech, New Mexico, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Winthrop and Marist. Also in the field are Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Northern Colorado, Towson and UTEP. Each team is guaranteed three games.

The Aggies, who broke a one-year-old school record for wins last season by going 26-7 (15-1 MEAC) will open the tournament at Marist on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. The winner will move on to play the winner of the Towson at West Virginia matchup.

"Our players really deserve this,'' said Bibbs, who is 77-47 with the Aggies. "In order to be considered for this tournament you must have a pretty good RPI. That means our young ladies have put in the work it takes to win a lot of games. I'm proud of them."

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

UNCG: Head volleyball coach Shawn Garus has resigned to take the head coaching position at Boise State University.

Garus went 71-64 in four seasons at UNCG, including a 66-38 mark in his final three seasons in Greensboro.

"Addressing the team last night was no easy task," Garus said in a statement. "The success we have had has been due to the hard work of those student-athletes. They have done so much for this program -- putting it near the top of the league and making it a contender for conference titles again. I know that hard work will continue for the next coach and it will be a program to be reckoned with."

BASEBALL

WILSON 8, HITOMS 6: The HiToms (14-14, 0-1) took an early 3-0 lead but dropped their second-half opener. Chris Epps hit a three-run homer.

COLLEGE SOCCER

WAKE FOREST: Wake Forest women's soccer players Caitlin Farrell and Bianca D'Agostino were among 18 players selected to travel to England with the United States U-23 Women's National Team for a pair of games against the English U-23 team. The trip takes place from July 1-10.

YOUTH GOLF

U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: Leif Neijstrom of Greensboro shot rounds of 71 and 69 at MacGregor Downs in Cary for two-day, 4-under-par 140 -- good for fourth place at a sectional qualifier Monday and a spot in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

Neijstrom finished six shots behind medalist Grayson Murray of Raleigh and earned the final qualifying spot. The top four of 78 players in the field advanced.

Davis Womble of High Point shot rounds of 72 and 71 to finish at 1-under 143. He tied for eighth place, missing a qualifying spot by three shots.

Drew Johnson of Oak Ridge (73-72--145) and Dylan Morgan of Eden (73-75--148) finished in the top 20.

The U.S. Junior Am will be held July 20-25 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. The event is open to amateur golfers age 17 and younger with a handicap of 6.4 or less.