Women's Basketball 12/1/2007 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

NSU Drops MEAC Opener to North Carolina A&T, 63-39

Amber Bland had 16 points to lead three North Carolina A&T players in double figures as the Lady Aggies downed Norfolk State, 68-39, in the MEAC opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.

NSU (1-3, 0-1 MEAC) could not overcome a tough A&T defense as the Lady Aggies (6-1, 1-0 MEAC) led for the entire game. The Spartans' 17 first-half points were the lowest this season.

The Lady Aggies held NSU without a basket for the first six minutes of the game. It was not until Tiffany Gadsden (Columbia, S.C.) hit a layup with 13:58 left in the first half that NSU got on the board. A&T kept NSU at bay for the rest of the half and the Spartans could get no closer than 12, 16-4, the rest of the way.

A free throw by Lamona Smalley with 34 seconds left in the half gave North Carolina A&T a 40-17 advantage going into the break.

The second half was all A&T. The Lady Aggies forced NSU into 22 second-half turnovers and limited them to 28 percent (7-of-25) shooting from the floor.

The Spartans, who have been plagued by turnovers all season, had a
season-high 38 giveaways.

Ta'Wuana Cook had 15 points, five assists and three steals for the Lady
Aggies, who are off to their best start in school history. Smalley had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds and tallied a game-high six steals.

For NSU, Areya Walker just missed a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. Natasha Huntley had a team-high five steals, but had a game-high 10 turnovers.

North Carolina A&T shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the floor for the game, 64.3 percent(18-of-28) from the free-throw line and was 2-of-8 (25.0 percent) from 3-point range. NSU was held to 25.5 percent (13-of-51) shooting from the field and was 0-10 from beyond the arc. The Spartans connected on 72.2 percent (13-of-18) of their shots from the charity stripe.

NSU travels to Albuquerque, N.M. to take part in the Comcast Lobo Shootout,hosted by the University of New Mexico on Dec. 7-8. The Spartans take on UNM at 9 p.m. on Friday and play either Towson or Southern on Saturday at 7 or 9 p.m. All times are Eastern.