Hampton shoots 56.7 percent from the floor

Box Score
GREENSBORO, March 3, 2008 – North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach had four short messages among a sea of hurt surrounding her team following its 85-84 loss to Hampton on Monday night at the HU Convocation Center.

It supposed to hurt. Remember the feeling. Your season is not over. Go win the MEAC and NCAA Tournament.

“I dream big,’’ said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “And the great thing now is that we have their attention. Sometimes when you lose you win because it’s painful for them right now. They’re hurting. So if they don’t want to feel this pain again they better come to play every night because when you get into that tournament it’s one and done.”

What may have been more painful is that this Bibbs’ first loss to Hampton – a team she led to three MEAC Championships – in six games. The Pirates ended the Aggies chance of becoming the first team in the program’s history to go undefeated in the conference. They also ended the Aggies school record 15-game winning streak.

Ta’Wuana Cook had 21 points and five assists in the losing effort. Brittanie Taylor-James added 19 and Lamona Smalley scored 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting. The Pirates’ Rachel Butler finished with 19.

“It was a great game,’’ said Bibbs. “It came down to that last shot. Hampton executed tonight. This is a team we beat by 32 points in our gym, so you have to give them credit. They came out with something to prove tonight, and they played really, really well. When you beat a team by 32 points it’s hard to convince your team that they’re playing a good team. But when they saw themselves in a dog fight it was a wake-up call.”

The Aggies trailed by as many as six in the second half, their largest second-half deficit of the second half in a conference game. But the Aggies went on one of their customary second-half runs that has usually led them to blow out wins all season. The Aggies put together a 21-8 run to take a 70-63 on a Nancy Rembert layup.

Unlike most of the Aggies conference opponents this season, when the Aggies made their run, the Pirates kept hitting shots while beating the N.C. A&T pressure. The Pirates answered with an Ashley Finley 3-point play that cut the Aggies lead to 70-66. After a Tyronnica Alford runner in the lane put the Aggies up by six, the Pirates went on an impressive shooting display. A Roneisha Corbitt jump shot started a run in which the Pirates hit eight of their next nine shots to take an 83-78 lead with 1:56 to play.

The Aggies would not give up their undefeated conference season easily. Bland knocked down a three from the corner to move the Aggies to within two. Butler missed the front end of a one-and-one which led to Cook penetrating to the basket and getting fouled.

Cook hit the second of a two-shot foul to pull the Aggies to within one. Bland stepped in and stole Actavia Burns’ in-bound pass, dished the pass to Cook for a layup and 1-point Aggies lead, 84-83 with five seconds to play.

On the ensuing in-bounds, play, the Aggies pressure finally came back to haunt them. Rembert, trying to make an aggressive play on the ball, fouled Burns. She went to the line and knocked down two free throws to give the Pirates a 1-point advantage.

The Aggies had one last chance, but Smalley’s jump shot from just inside the 3-point arc fell short, sending the Pirates into an exuberant celebration at mid-court.

“My thing is we’ve got another opportunity,’’ said Bibbs. “We have a game to win on Thursday and then we have a tournament to win in Raleigh. We must take this hurt and use it to go out and become MEAC Tournament Champions.”

The Aggies close out their regular season against Norfolk State at home on Thursday, starting at 6 p.m. The Aggies open the MEAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, which means they will play Wednesday, March 12 at 10 a.m., against the winner of the No. 8-9 game.