Bland scores 23 points and records eight steals

Box Score
ORANGEBURG, February 25, 2008 – The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team grabbed a share of the MEAC regular-season crown on Monday night with an 86-67 win over S.C. State at S-H-M Memorial Center.

But head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs is not in a sharing mood.  

“I told the ladies we don’t want share anything,’’ said Bibbs. “We’ve come this far, we might as well take the whole thing. We’ve got to keep our focus and keep striving until all our goals are met fully.”

Coppin State beat Howard to prevent the Aggies from clinching the title outright. An Aggies win at Howard on Saturday will make the Aggies the outright MEAC regular-season champions. The Aggies did clinch the No. 1 overall seed for the MEAC Tournament to be held in Raleigh March 10-15 behind 23 points and eight steals from Amber Bland. Brittanie Taylor-James added 17 points and seven rebounds, and Ta’Wuana Cook scored 19 points and had four assists.

The Aggies are guaranteed their first MEAC regular-season title since the 1989-90 season. The Aggies improved to 21-5 overall and 13-0 in the conference with their 14^th straight win, the seventh longest in the country.

The Aggies also guaranteed themselves a spot in postseason play beyond the MEAC Tournament. Even if the Aggies don’t win the MEAC Tournament, they are now guaranteed at least a spot in the WNIT.

They are two wins shy of the school record for wins and the broke the school record for conference wins. If they stay on their current course they will also break the school record winning percentage. S.C. State challenged the Aggies perfect conference record for most of the night. N.C. A&T appeared headed for another blowout win after hitting 10 of its first 11 shots to take a 25-9 lead. But the Aggies hit just seven of their next 30 shots to end the half.

Meanwhile, a combination of the Bulldogs getting the ball inside to center Marie Reid and beating the Aggies pressure defense close the Aggies lead to four, 45-41, by the half.

The Bulldogs pulled to within two on a Kristin Johnson jumper with 14:48 remaining. Nancy Rembert pushed the lead to four on a driving layup. The Aggies, who have now won their last nine games by more than 15 points, began to pull away after a Bulldog free throw made it 55-52 with 13:47 to play.

Bland started a 16-3 Aggies run with a 3-pointer from the corner. During the run the Aggies pressure forced seven turnovers to assist in the Aggies taking a 71-55 lead with nine minutes to play. The Aggies forced the Bulldogs into 31 turnovers for the game, marking the eighth time this season the Aggies have made an opponent turnover the ball over 30 times or more.

“I’m so proud of my ladies,’’ said Bibbs. “Everybody is coming after us with their best game and we didn’t wither under the pressure. This is the closest game we’ve had in a while and I like the way we responded. They showed toughness and resiliency and it was good to see that.”

The Bulldogs were led by Reid’s 21 points. Jenell Moore and Sophilia Hipps added 13 points.