Smalley pulls down a season-high 14 rebounds  

 Box Score
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., January 15, 2007 –   A tough road test. A young team. A close game. Those variables didn’t add up to success for the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team on Monday night.

 The Aggies shot just 35.7 percent from the floor in a 72-65 loss to Florida A&M at Gaither Gymnasium. Brittanie Taylor-James led the Aggies with 17 points, while Amber Bland and a foul-plagued Ta’Wuana “Tweet” Cook had 10 apiece. Lamona Smalley eclipsed a freshman record with 14 rebounds.

 “There was no question who they wanted to slow down tonight,’’ said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. They focused in on stopping our guards (Cook and Bland) and we couldn’t get Amber involved like we wanted to.

 The Aggies also struggled to keep Cook on the floor. She picked up two first-half fouls early and was charged with her fourth foul at the 6:20 mark of the second half with the Aggies trailing by two, 58-56. Two minutes later, with the same score, Cook was called for hand-check on Rattlers guard Secrett Anderson. The call sent Cook to the bench for the game.

 “I thought that was a key point in the game,’’ said Bibbs. “You never want to lose your floor leader in a close ball game. You want to have a player like Tweet on the floor, but that’s not how it happened.”

 Anderson hit one of two free throws, only to see freshman Aggies center Lonise Coulter pull off a spin move in the lane to put the Aggies down one. Coulter’s basket was followed by a strong defensive effort by the Aggies, but Marke Freeman hit a desperation three with shot clock at one to give Florida A&M a 62-58 lead.

 Two free throws by Q’Vaunda Curry and a fastbreak layup by Curry gave the Rattlers their biggest lead of the game at eight, 66-58 with 2:42 remaining in the game. Full-court pressure would get the Aggies back in the game. A steal and a layup by Bland put the Aggies down six. Ahmad Williams followed with an interception, leading a Taylor-James basket.

 The Aggies had a chance to slice the lead to two, but missed a wide open layup. The Rattlers capitalized with a jump shot by Freeman to take the lead back to six at 68-62 with 1:12 to play. Shantar Waddell would hit one of two free throws. After a 30 second timeout, the Rattlers finally beat the Aggies pressure which led to a crucial Joslyne Jackson layup that gave the Rattlers a 70-63 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

 Curry led the Rattlers with 23 points and six rebounds. Anderson added 15 points and eight rebounds.

 “This was a tough loss, but we can grow from this,’’ said Bibbs. “There are some good teams in the conference, and when you go on the road you better be ready.”

 The Aggies have a crucial road game on Saturday when they face two-time defending MEAC Champion Coppin State at the Coppin Center at 2 p.m.