Women's Basketball 1/22/2008 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Lady Aggies Defeat Defending MEAC Champions of Delaware St.

Lamona Smalley scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team to a 64-57 win over defending MEAC Champion Delaware State at Memorial Hall.

Smalley’s double-double was the fifth of her career. It followed her 15-point, 14-rebound performance against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday.

The Aggies improved to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in the conference. The win gives them sole possession of first place by a half-game over Hampton. In starting the conference season 5-0, the Aggies have defeated the defending MEAC regular-season champion and the defending MEAC tournament champion.

Smalley celebrated her recent MEAC Defensive Player of the Week honor with offense against the Hornets. Smalley started her late-game scoring spree thanks to Amber Bland. Bland found a cutting Smalley going toward the basket for an easy layup that tied the game at 53 with 6:39 to play.

Two Bland free throws gave the Aggies a 55-53 lead with 4:26 to play. The Aggies never relinquished the lead again as their fullcourt pressure baffled the Hornets the rest of the way. The Aggies aggressive pressure was helped by the fact that they had only committed three team fouls in the second half, putting the Hornets four fouls shy of reaching the bonus.

Over the last seven minutes of the game, the Hornets were just 1-for-8 from the floor and turned the ball over five times. Smalley and the Aggies took advantage of the Hornets offensive problems. Smalley worked herself free for an open jump shot that gave the Aggies 57-53 lead with 3:42 to play.

After two Katreem Palmer free throws, Smalley sliced to the basket again to give the Aggies a four-point advantage. Two Brittanie Taylor-James free throws gave the Aggies a 61-55 lead with a little more than a minute remaining.

The Aggies step outside of conference play Saturday when they face rival Winston-Salem State at Irvin-Corbett Court starting at 2 p.m.

On Monday, Taylor-James contributed 10 points off the bench and Pennsylvania native Jalessa Sams also had 10. Palmer led the Hornets with 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting.