Sams records second straight double-double

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 18, 2008 – North Carolina A&T technically did not wrap up the MEAC regular-season championship with its 78-53 win over Delaware State, but…come on.

Ta’Wuana Cook scored 20 points and had eight assists and Jalessa Sams recorded her second straight double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Lamona Smalley chipped in with a career-high 17 rebounds. The Aggies (19-5, 12-0) have now won 12 straight games.

They are one win shy of recording the program’s third 20-win season. Another win will give head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs her 11^th career 20-win season, and four more wins will break the school record for victories. Therefore, odds are the Aggies will be the No. 1 seed in the MEAC Tournament March 10-15 in Raleigh. All signs are also pointing to the Aggies wrapping up their first regular-season title since the 1989-90 season.

The Aggies only have four conference games remaining. The only two teams currently standing in the Aggies way of clinching the regular-season title are Hampton and Coppin State. Those teams play one another on Saturday. Coppin State (9-3 in the MEAC) is three games behind the Aggies and the Pirates (7-4 MEAC) are 4 ½ games behind the Aggies.

The Aggies can’t do anything on its own to clinch on Saturday because they play 5:30 p.m., at Winston-Salem State, which is not a conference game. If Coppin State beats Hampton, it remains alive although it would take an Aggie collapse for the Eagles to win the regular season and top seed. If the Pirates win, they would have to beat the Aggies by 33 on Monday, March 3 at Hampton to earn the top seed and a share of the regular-season title.

All of the scenarios mean nothing if the Aggies beat S.C. State in Orangeburg, S.C., on Monday, Feb. 25. A win there wraps up at least a share of the regular-season crown and clinches the top seed in the MEAC Tournament.

“Teams are counting on us to lose because that’s the only way they’re going to get back in the race, and we are aware of that,’’ said Bibbs. “Other teams still believe they can win this thing, so we can’t relax.

“I tell my team, people have to respect you for what you do on the court. That’s why I don’t get into who beat whom. As long as we’re taking care of business on the court it speaks volumes. If we keep winning, the championships will come.”  

The Aggies took care of business the way it normally has against the teams from the top half of the conference. The game remains close in the first half before the Aggies pressure defense starts to wear on teams. The turnovers then begin to mount. The turnovers turn into transition points for N.C. A&T, and the blowout is not too far away after all those components come together.

The Aggies held a 38-33 lead with 15:38 remaining in the game. Delaware State’s Keyhana Wakefield ran over Smalley for an offensive foul. Sams took advantage of the turnover by hitting a short jump shot in the lane. Smalley added another jump shot before the Hornets hit another free throw to cut the Aggies lead to 42-34. But a Hornets turnover led to a fastbreak layup by Sams.

Another Hornets turnover led to a Nancy Rembert layup, a Smalley rebound and outlet to Cook led to another Aggies layup and Smalley capped off the Aggies 12-1 run by taking down a Rembert miss and putting it back in the basket for a 50-34 lead with 9:29 to play. The Aggies out-rebounded the Hornets 51-33.

“We beat a really good team today,’’ said Bibbs. “I don’t think we were doing a good job on the boards in the first half. We knew if they missed shots they were going to go after the ball, so we had to be hungrier. I told them if they were aggressive on the boards we can win this game and that’s what they did.”