Bland records 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 2, 2008 – On a night when former great players of the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball program came together at Irvin-Corbett Court to honor a fallen teammate and team manager, they also got to witness what appears to be future Aggie greats.

The 2007-2008 edition of Aggie women’s basketball won their seventh straight game and remained undefeated in conference play with a 93-58 win over Howard Saturday night. Ta’Wuana Cook led the Aggies (14-5, 7-0) with 22 points and five assists. It was her third straight game in which she scored more than 20 points. Teammate Amber Bland added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Brittanie Taylor-James finished with 19 on 9-for-13 shooting.

“It was great to see the past Lady Aggies come back and see the game,’’ said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “They are true pioneers of the program and I really enjoyed them. They talked to the ladies before the game, and the things they said were truly inspirational. When the past comes back like that, you really want to show them the program is in good shape.”

The former players returned to honor Halima Cotwright who died recently. She played with the Aggies from 1995-98. They also honored Yolanda Bennett, their former team manager who died within a few days of Cotwright.

With their fellow Aggies in the stands, the Aggies didn’t get off to a hot start against Howard (2-17, 2-7). The Bison scored the first seven points of the game before Cook hit a three at the 17:37 mark of the first half. The Aggies would go on to score 14 straight points after their early drought to take a 14-7 lead with 14:58 remaining in the first half.

The Aggies never trailed again, but the Bison moved to within four of the heavily-favored Aggies on Jasmine Lipford 3-pointer with 4:32 remaining in the first half. But the Aggies closed the half on an 11-4 run capped off by another Cook three that gave the Aggies a 42-31 halftime lead.

The Aggie dominated from there, opening the second half by hitting nine of their first 10 shots to take a commanding 60-35 lead with 14:43 to play. Howard was led by Tamaya Daniels who had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Asha Santee added 21 points and eight rebounds.

“Our coach always tells us we are the hunted,’’ said Taylor-James. “You have to go into every game as if you have something to prove. It’s not going to get any easier. It’s going to get harder because everyone wants to be the first to knock us off.”

The Aggies will welcome in Hampton on Monday at 6 p.m. The Pirates are No. 2 in the MEAC at 6-1, one game behind N.C. A&T. It is also the school where Bibbs spent seven years of her career, won 127 games and captured three championships.

“They have good athletes and they pound the boards,’’ said Bibbs. “They do all the little things necessary to win. It is going to be an interesting game.”