Bland leads the MEAC in scoring

 

GREENSBORO, January 3, 2007 – The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball program went five years between Mid-Eastern Player of the Week honors. Now, a player from the program has taken hold of the award two consecutive weeks.

 Guard Amber Bland (5-11, Boardman, Ohio) was named MEAC Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 26-Jan.1 after averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. She also shot 45 percent from the field, hit five 3-points and hit 50 percent of her shots (15-for-30) inside the 3-point arc.

 Bland and the Aggies faced two of the toughest teams in the nation last week. Against No. 9 Baylor, Bland scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half. Two days later, against Texas Christian, the No. 29 team in the ESPN/USA Today Coach’s Poll, she scored 24 of her career-high 33 points in the second half.

 “The great thing about Amber is that she is truly an unselfish player,’’ said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “Sometimes you have to tell Amber to take over because she wants others involved so much. It tells you that this is a young lady with a good head on her shoulders, and it also tells you even with her great athletic ability, she’s a team player.”

 The Aggies (6-6) have faced five teams from major conferences such as the Big 12, the Big East and the SEC. Three of those teams were ranked in the top 30. In those five games, Bland averaged 19.8 points and 4.8 rebounds.

 Bland, the leading scorer in the conference at 19.3 points per game, also has two games of 30 or more points and has scored 20 or more points six times this season.

 Bland won the honor the previous week after helping the Aggies complete a 3-0 homestand by averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field.

 The Aggies return to action 2 p.m., Saturday at Corbett Sports Center against Maryland-Eastern Shore. On Monday, they host Howard at 6 p.m.