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Point women’s basketball head coach Tory Wooley has been named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in his tenth season as the leader of the Skyhawks.

Point is 20-8 this season, and they finished second in the AAC behind Bryan.

Wooley is honored to be named the coach of the year in Point’s final season in the AAC.

“It’s truly a blessing to be recognized,” Wooley said.

“This is a huge testament to our program’s success. It’s made up of hard working players and assistants who are in the trenches alongside me every day. It’s great to have such a supportive program and athletic director as well as my family.”

Wooley is pleased to have such a good season, and he’s looking to finish strong in the postseason.

“Hopefully, we can make it to the national tournament,” Wooley said.

“It’s a vision we had from day one. We want to make history within our program. We hang our hat on the defensive side of the ball. We have four players who were on the all-defense team. It’s all about the players. It’s a testament of the hard work they put in. We can put them in the right position to be successful, and they stick to their scripts on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. They get in the gym, and they have the determination to be special.”

Wooley has never won AAC Coach of the Year, but he was named the NCCAA South Regional Coach of the Year in 2016.

“We wanted to leave this conference with a mark that can’t be erased,” Wooley said.

“We finished as regular season runner-ups. These players can always remember it. We’re not done yet. We have the conference tournament to look forward to.”

Wooley feels like this season can be a special one.

“Every year is different,” Wooley said.

“It takes on a life of its own.  We had a lot of injuries early in the year. We were missing two starters at times. When we got healthy, I knew we could take off. I’m proud of the commitment of our players. I knew we could finish strong. We had two tough road wins that helped solidify our success this year.”

The Skyhawks will play Bluefield in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament on Thursday, and Wooley is preparing his team for the postseason push.

“We’re going over our scouts,” Wooley said.

“We’re going to be prepared.”

Point will make the NAIA tournament if they either win the AAC Tournament or Bryan wins.

Wooley is focused on Bluefield more than the conference champions.

“It’s a one game tournament,” Wooley said.

“That’s all we can focus on. If we do what we have to do and stick to the game plan, we’ll survive and advance.”

Wooley also knows how big it was to clinch the number two seed.

“We’re on the opposite side of Bryan,” Wooley said.

“We’ll see them in the championship if we take care of business. The potential to get that automatic bid is huge.”