Bland reaches 30-point plateau for the third time this season

 Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 17, 2007 – What looked like a blowout for most of the night turned into an Aggie-Eagle classic thanks to a late four-minute surge by the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team.

 But the Aggie later rally wasn’t enough as Coppin State kept his record conference winning streak intact with an 84-81 win at Corbett Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

 Amber Bland led the Aggies with 30 points and seven rebounds, marking the third time this season she has reached the 30-point plateau. Ta’Wuana “Tweet” Cook added a season-high 25 points and added five assists. The Aggies are 14-11 overall and 9-5 in the conference, a half-game ahead of Morgan State, their opponent on Monday evening at 5:30 from Corbett Sports Center.

 “The ladies showed a lot of heart to come back, but we got started too late,’’ said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “Coppin is a veteran team, they execute well, play excellent defense and you saw tonight how their experience benefited them throughout the game.”

 The Aggies never led in the ball game, trailed by 13 at the half and were down by as many 20 in the second half. Yet, Bland remained steady the entire game and made sure the Aggies stayed within striking distance.

 Bland was 12-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-8 from 3-point range for the game. She drove the lane at the 6:24 mark of the second half to bring the Aggies to within 15 at 71-56. Following a put back by Tanezia Harden put the Eagles up 17, Cook drove and created a 3-point play that put the Aggies down 14.

 But Harden would again capitalize on an offensive put back to keep the Aggies at a distance. Cook scored the next six points to move the lead under 10, 75-66 with 3:57 remaining. It was the first time the lead moved under double figures since the 6:47 mark of the first half.

 Harden scored again to give Coppin State an 11-point lead. A Cook free throw cut it to 10, followed by a tough Brittanie Taylor-James fall-away jumper that made it 77-69. The Aggies appeared to be ready to cut into the Eagles lead even more, but Talia Sutton grabbed two offensive rebounds, On the second offensive board, Sutton located a wide open Rashida Suber for a 3-pointer that was huge for the Eagles.

 It gave Coppin State (18-6, 13-0) an 11-point lead with 2:48 to play. Suber, who is Bland’s closest competitor for MEAC Player of the Year, scored 27 points on six 3-pointers. Bland answered Suber with a three of her own to move the Aggies to within eight, 80-72 with 2:30 to play. Bland’s three sparked a 9-0 run that was capped by Bland intercepting a Shalamar Oakley pass and scoring on a layup to move the Aggies to within two, 80-78 with 26 seconds remaining. Oakley answered with two free throws. Following an Aggies miss, the Eagles put the game away with free throws.

 The lost to the Eagles for the 18^th consecutive, while the Eagles kept their consecutive conference win streak to 36. Harden had 13 points and 12 boards for the Eagles, Tamieka Noel added 16.