Senior forward Brittanie Taylor-James, the MEAC’s leading scorer, led the Aggies with 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting in a 72-63 defeat at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday. Her performance marked the fourth time she has scored 20 or more points during a game this season. Amber Bland added 12 points, and Jaleesa Sams also scored in double figures with 10.
“I think Kentucky is a great team,’’ said N.C. A&T head women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “They got in front us, but we didn’t give up. We came here tonight to win this game. I’m hoping we can learn from this game and then go on and do what we need to do.”
As the second half came to a conclusion New Year’s Day, the Aggies found their groove. Kentucky’s Amber Smith gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game, 61-42, with 3:35 remaining. What happened over the next 3 ? minutes impressed Bibbs. The Aggies fought.
Taylor-James started the assault on the offensive end. She started by hitting a mid-range jumper followed by a move to the basket to earn a 3-point play. The senior finished off her personal 7-0 run with another jumper to cut the Wildcats lead to 61-49 with 2:27 remaining.
After two Eleisa Roddy free throws, MEAC preseason Player of the Year, Amber Bland hit back-to-back 3-pointers to slice the Wildcats lead to eight at 63-55 with 1:59 to play. The Aggies would keep competing until they sliced the lead down to seven, 66-59, with two Taylor-James free throws with 1:05 remaining. Taylor-James and Bland combined to score 26 second-half points for the Aggies.
But Kentucky would seal the game by going 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute of the game.
“To be successful going forward we need to rebound the basketball,’’ said Bibbs. “We have a great rebounding team that can really go after the offensive boards. We will miss some shots, but we have been great about going after and getting those missed shots. If we could have boxed out a little more and grabbed some rebounds then probably we would have won this game.”
The Aggies did compete on the boards in the first half as the Wildcats out-rebounded N.C. A&T 19-17 on the glass. The Aggies strong showing on the glass in the first half helped them stay close as Bland’s jumper with 1:43 remaining the half tied the game at 22. After a 7-0 Wildcats run, Taylor-James put the Aggies down 29-25 at halftime with a 3-pointer to close the first half.
After a Tierra Thomas jump shot closed the lead to two to start the second half, Kentucky put together a 19-1 run over the next 10 minutes to build a comfortable lead as the Wildcats limited the Aggies to one shot per possession by grabbing 10 defensive rebounds during their run.
The Aggies will try to head into conference play with a win as they face Charlotte on the road Monday night at 7. The Aggies then travel to Morgan State to face the Bears Saturday at 2 p.m.