The Cayman Islands Classic NCAA Division 1 tournament welcomed women’s basketball for the first time since the event launched in 2017.
Eight women’s teams competed from 24-25 Nov. – capping off a week of basketball action starting with three days of men’s games and Utah State Aggies being named champions.
However, the inaugural women’s teams (Virginia Tech; University of Connecticut; University of California, Los Angeles; Niagara; Tulane; Virginia; Louisiana State University; and Kansas) which played two games each, did not lead to a trophy.
Instead, they played fixtures that served as preseason friendlies under the Cayman Classic banner, with LSU, Virginia Tech and UCLA winning both of their games.
Virginia Tech’s head coach Kenny Brooks told the Compass after his win against Tulane on Saturday, 25 Nov., that he was pleased with his team’s overall performance but sees room for improvement heading into the NCAA season.
“It was a good win,” Brooks said. “Obviously winning is always good but to come out here and play two teams that are really well coached and for us to be able to work on some different things was really good for us. We are very happy we got two wins but we know we can play a lot better.”
Executive tournament director Joanne McCallie, in announcing the game matchups for the tournament back in August, referred to the “unprecedented collection of fabulous programs and coaches” and the opportunity to experience “the beautiful Cayman Islands”.
Brooks spoke positively of his brief time in Cayman.
“Obviously any time you can come to a beautiful place and play a game that you love; bring your fans down here and they get to enjoy the whole experience, it’s very special,” he said.
“The field that they had coming here, with some really good teams, kudos to them – it was a really good experience for us.”
Organisers have confirmed that next year’s Cayman Classic will again include women’s teams, with the addition of a trophy for the winner.
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