Tajama Abraham Ngongba joined the Hoya coaching staff in 2021. Ngongba came to Georgetown after eight seasons on the sideline at George Mason University. With the Patriots, she was part of a record-breaking season in 2017-18 setting the school record for wins (24), reaching the WNIT for the first time in 14 years and winning a postseason game for the first time in program history.
As the post coach at Mason, Ngongba mentored All-American and All-Atlantic 10 players including one that was later a WNBA Draft selection.
Prior to George Mason, Ngongba was the head coach at Radford University for five seasons where she was the 2010-11 Big South Coach of the Year. In her time, she mentored five Big South All-Conference honorees, a Big South All-Tournament selection, an All-Rookie honoree and the 2008-09 Big South Defensive Player of the Year.
Ngongba is certainly no stranger to the region, serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater, George Washington University, for four years. While at GW, Ngongba was responsible for recruiting, scouting, team academics, postseason workouts and player development, with an emphasis on post play. She helped mentor three Atlantic 10 First-Team All-Conference selections.
From 2002-04, Ngongba was an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University where she held responsibilities in recruiting, post player development, scouting and organizing preseason and summer conditioning workouts. She also spent the 2001-02 season as an assistant at the University of Richmond.
Internationally, Ngongba was a member of the coaching staff that helped the U.S. Virgin Islands Women's Junior National Team to a gold medal in the 2001 Caricom Junior Basketball Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. Aside from her role as an assistant, she also served as the team captain for the U.S. Virgin Islands Women's Senior National Team.
A former standout player for GW women's basketball from 1994-97, Ngongba was a part of 252 GW victories and four Sweet 16 appearances. She remains the program's most prolific scorer having tallied a school-record 2,134 points during her four-year career and is the only Colonial to surpass the 2,000 career-point mark. Ngongba was named a Kodak First-Team All-American in 1997 as a senior after leading the Colonials to a 28-6 record and the East Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament. GW defeated No. 4 North Carolina in the final to advance to the Elite Eight.
Ngongba earned the 1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year Award and a Kodak Honorable Mention All-American and Basketball Times Honorable Mention All-American in 1996. She received a unanimous first-team all-league selection in 1996 and 1997, earned second team all-conference honors in 1995 and was the Rookie of the Year in 1994. Ngongba was selected to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team in 1997 and was the tournament's MVP in 1996 when GW claimed the A-10 crown.
In addition to holding the school record in points, Ngongba also holds the school mark for most points scored in one season (675 in 1996-97) and is tied for the most games played (130). She ranks second at GW in career scoring average (16.4 ppg), rebounds (970) and blocked shots (326). In 2004, Ngongba was inducted into GW's Athletics Hall of Fame.
After graduating from GW, Ngongba was drafted as the seventh pick in the fourth round of the inaugural WNBA draft by the Sacramento Monarchs. She spent the 1997 season with the Monarchs before joining the Detroit Shock for the 1998 campaign. During the 1998-99 season, Ngongba traveled to Nice, France to play for the Nice Cavigal.
A 1997 graduate from GW with a degree in Sociology, Ngongba completed her Master's work in 2006 in parks, recreation and sports leadership from VCU. The St. Croix, Virgin Islands native married former GW men's basketball player Patrick Ngongba in 2003 and the couple has a daughter, Naja, and son, Patrick II.
