Amber Bland and Ta’Wuana Cook combined for 46 points

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 12, 2007 – Four weeks ago, Florida A&M held the superb North Carolina A&T women’s basketball backcourt of Amber Bland and Ta’Wuana Cook in check. On Monday night with an outright second-place spot on the line, the duo who has five MEAC weekly accolades combined this season were not slowed down as they helped the Aggies defeat Florida A&M 77-72.

Amber Bland led the way with 24 points, while Cook made big play after big play to finish with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists.

“They were so big for us today,” said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. To have both of them have off nights down there was too much for us to overcome. They came out determined to make sure they made an impact today and we really needed this win, so I appreciate our team’s effort.”

Bland had her worst scoring output in conference play on Jan. 15 as she finished with 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting. Cook only had 10 points in the game a month ago. She also fouled out and failed to have an assists for the only time this season.

But Cook responded when the Rattlers cut the lead to 59-58 with 4:05 remaining. The freshman out of Fayetteville, N.C., hit her only 3-pointer on the night to give the Aggies a 62-58 lead. Cook then stole the ball from Q’Vaunda Curry and was fouled on the other end.

Cook’s two free throws gave the Aggies a 64-58 lead with 3:02 remaining. Amber Bland’s jumper extended the Aggies run to 7-0 at the most crucial time of the game. Curry pulled the Rattlers to within six at 66-60 and Marke Freeman closed the gap to four with a jumper at the 1:12 mark. But Brittanie Taylor-James’ jump shot put the Aggies up six. After a Shantar Waddell free throw, Bland put the Rattlers away for good with a 3-pointer.

The Aggies improved to 10-1 at home with their ninth straight home win. The Aggies are 6-0 at home against MEAC opponents and they have not lost a MEAC game at home since Feb. 25, 2006 of last season, a streak of eight straight home wins over MEAC opponents.

“We have to continue to play well at home,’’ said Bibbs. “We have two tough opponents come in here this week and we need to come out with the same fire we had tonight.”

The Aggies host Coppin State (17-6, 12-0) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Eagles come into Corbett riding a 35-game winning streak within the conference after beating Hampton on Monday night. The Aggies improved to 14-10 overall and 9-4 in the MEAC and now have sole possession of second place in the conference.