Nancy Rembert scored a team-high 17 points to lead five players in double figures as North Carolina A&T pulled away to a 76-65 win over Florida A&M in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) women’s tournament at the RBC Center.

The Lady Aggies (24-6), the number one seed, advance to the semifinals on Friday against the winner of the Maryland Eastern Shore-Hampton quarterfinal game.

“It really feels good to win,” said North Carolina A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, who was voted the 2008 MEAC Coach of the Year by her peers. “It’s been a long time since North Carolina A&T has won a first round game. We played a really good team in FAMU. They put us out of the tournament last year.”

The Lady Rattlers, the number nine seed, who advanced after a win over Howard in the first round, appeared to have the advantage early, bolting out to a 9-2 lead and maintaining a slight lead through most of the first half until a late push by North Carolina A&T closed the deficit to 32-30 at the half.

“Having played on Tuesday certainly was in their favor,” said Coach Cage- Bibbs. “We had not played since Thursday and were a bit off to start our game. But the run near the end of the half and to start the second half was big. We turned up the intensity level and created some turnovers that got us back. We pulled away but you have to give them credit because they kept coming back.”
Rembert scored five of her team’s seven points during the late rush that provided momentum and confidence for the regular season champions.

The Lady Aggies rode the wave in the first 4 minutes as they opened a 45-36 lead. Rembert was again a key factor as was Lamona Smalley, who was a force with her baskets in the paint area and her work on the boards.

But the Lady Rattlers (14-17) regrouped on the scoring of Stephanie Foster, Denise Tate and Jocelyn Jackson who combined to whittle the lead to 63-62 on a three-point basket by Evette Young at the 4:08 mark.

But from there, North Carolina A&T reeled off a 12-0 run during a period of 3:50 that put the game away and sent the Lady Aggies to the semifinals.

“I think fatigue contributed to our demise,” said Florida A&M Coach Debra Clark. “I thought North Carolina A&T had an outstanding game plan, but that fatigue really set in and caused problems, especially the last four or five minutes of the game.”

Bland chipped in with 15 and 11 rebounds while Ta'Wuana Cook and Jalessa Sams added 12 and Smalley with her double-double of 11 points-10 rebounds.
Florida A&M was led by Foster with a game-high 22 and Tate, who each had 11.

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