Women's Basketball 11/9/2007 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Lady Aggies Dominate Second Half to Beat Stetson

After playing a dismal first half, the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team didn’t allow Stetson to score for the first 6 ? minutes of the second half as the Aggies rallied to beat the Hatters 78-60 at the Edmunds Center.

Junior Brittanie Taylor-James led the way for the Aggies with 20 points and four rebounds, while Amber Bland added 15 points and five rebounds and Ta’Wuana Cook had 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the free throw line.
“I don’t think we came out lackadaisical, but I do think we were resting on what we did to this team last year,’’ said N.C. A&T head women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, who was referring to the Aggies 61-49 win over the Hatters last season.
“I was happy the way Stetson played in the first half,’’ Bibbs continued. “They executed and made us realize that they were serious. They made us play and our young ladies need to know if they don’t come out and play their best from the start, they’re not going to be successful.”
The Hatters shot a scorching 55.6 percent from the field in the first half thanks to dribble penetration from guards Tierra Brown and Sharnesha Smith. The backcourt duo combined for 21 first-half points on 9-for-15 shooting and the Hatters led 39-26 at the half.

After getting a stern speech about playing defense from Bibbs, who won her 398th career game on Friday, the Aggies came out and scored the first 24 points of the second half. During the Hatters 6 ? minute scoring drought, they turned the ball over eight times and the Aggies came away with six steals and eight fastbreak points.

Smith ended the Aggies 24-0 run with a 3-pointer at the 13:42 mark to pull the Hatters to within eight at 50-42. But the Aggies would stretch their lead to 15 on a Bland jumper with 10:55 remaining. But the Aggies would go the next three minutes without scoring a basket and the Hatters took advantage.

Brown intercepted a Bland pass and scored to cap off a 9-0 Hatters run that made it 61-55 with 7:36 remaining. The Hatters outside shot left them in the second half. Their next four possessions resulted in missed 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the Aggies offense caught fire. When senior Nancy Rembert followed her own layup with a putback, the Aggies completed a 10-0 run to take a commanding 71-55 lead with 4:18 remaining.

“Stetson is a good team and they reminded us if you don’t go hard in practice then this is what happens,’’ said Bibbs. “Teams are going to come at you hard and we need to be physically and mentally tough to handle that. It was good to see us come out and play with effort in the second half.”

Brown finished with 20 points for the Hatters on 7-for-14 shooting, while Smith ended the night with 11. The Aggies host Liberty 7 p.m., Friday from Corbett Sports Center in the home opener.