Box Score          Postgame Quotes         Postgame Notes

GREENSBORO, January 14, 2008 – In terms of a nice reward for a coach who has coached at the historically black college and university level her entire career, Patricia Cage-Bibbs’ 400^th win was certainly significant.

But in terms of the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball program as a whole, the Aggies 61-50 win over two-time defending regular-season champion Coppin State is by far the biggest win in Bibbs’ three-year stint at N.C. A&T.

The Aggies defeated the Eagles for the first time in four seasons. The Aggies are tied for first with Bibbs’ former team Hampton at 3-0, and in the process of knocking off the Eagles the Aggies held two-time MEAC Player of the Year Rashida Suber to 3-for-17 shooting and nine points. It was a nice step forward for a program that won 27 games from 1999-2004.

The Aggies defeated the Eagles despite getting zero points from leading-scorer Amber Bland. She didn’t score in the second half thanks in part to being in foul trouble. Bland did lead the Aggies with 19 points. Ta’Wuana Cook added 12 points and four assists and Brittanie Taylor-James came off the bench to score 11 points and grab eight rebounds. Sophomore Lamona Smalley had another outstanding all-around game with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. 

“I know what it’s like to beat one of the best and make no mistake, Coppin is one of the best,’’ said Bibbs. “But I wanted the program to experience this, so I’m just happy for the program. We hit another milestone by beating the preseason No. 1 team in our conference. They are a very, very good team. We beat a good team tonight.”

The Eagles were picked to win the MEAC this season thanks to having a first-team All-MEAC backcourt returning in Suber and Shalamar Oakley. But the Aggies pressured the duo all night, forcing them into a combined 13 turnovers.

The Aggies put several different players on Suber, forcing her to put the ball on the floor more than she has in the past against the Aggies. The Aggies ‘D’ also forced her into taking some tough shots.

"They like to pass the ball around, penetrate and dish it out to her,’’ said Bibbs. “So we told our players to make sure you know where she is. They did a good job with it. We really made her work for her shots tonight. It’s simple. It’s much tougher to score when you have a defender in your face. When you leave someone like Suber open, she’s definitely going to knock it down.

“She can put the ball on the floor, so you have to be conscience of that. But she likes to shoot the three and that’s what makes them so dangerous.”

Despite Suber’s offensive woes, the Eagles still led 36-32 at the 15-minute mark of the second half. But the Eagles began to turn the ball over and led to the Aggies getting into their transition game led by Cook who scored all 12 of her points in the second half. Cook’s sprint up the court and lay-in capped off an 11-0 run to give the Aggies a 43-36 lead with 9:28 remaining.

The Eagles were able to get within three at 43-40, but the Eagles would hit just two field goals over the last seven minutes of the game. The Aggies increased their lead to 12 when Cook found Smalley all alone underneath the basket for an easy layup with two minutes remaining.

“(Amber) passes the ball a lot more than we would like her to do, but that’s how she plays,’’ said Bibbs. “She is unselfish. But when you have teams trying to stop Amber Bland, you’ve got other people that can put the ball in the basket like Smalley, (Ta’Wuana Cook) and Taylor-James. We are hard to defend because we have people who can score the basketball.”

The Aggies go on the road to face Maryland-Eastern Shore Saturday at 2 p.m., from Princess Anne, Md.