Rattlers make just five field goals in the second half

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 7, 2009 -- The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team has tons of offensive talent.

But on Saturday at home against Florida A&M, senior forward Brittanie Taylor-James was 3-for-12. Junior point guard Ta’Wuana Cook was 4-for-12. Junior forward Lamona Smalley was 1-for-7. Sophomore forward Jaleesa Sams was 1-for-7. And despite leading the Aggies with 22 points and six rebounds, senior guard Amber Bland was just 8-for-22 from the floor.  Sounds dire!

It wasn’t. The Aggies rolled to a 68-44 win over the Rattlers because head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs always reminds her team that there is a component in basketball called “defense.” N.C. A&T forced 39 FAMU turnovers and held the Rattlers to just 15 second-half points on 5-for-31 shooting to win their 16^th straight home game. It is the seventh longest home winning streak in the nation.

“When you’re having trouble as a team hitting shots, you just have to tell the ladies to keep doing what they’re doing,’’ said Bibbs. “But let’s also buckle down and play some defense.”

The Aggies defense was sorely needed because the Aggies never got on track offensively. They shot just 26.9 percent in the first half after taking a whopping 42 shots. A lot of those shots came off of put backs around the rim that wouldn’t go through the basket.

It even took the Aggies three minutes before they scored their first second-half basket, while the Rattlers tied the game at 32 on a Stephanie Foster 3-pointer with 17:15 remaining in the game. Foster’s field goal became hard to remember as the second half continued. The Rattlers next field goal didn’t come until there was 3:58 to play in the game.

During that span, the Aggies were able to put together a 17-0 run that was capped off by a Smalley layup with 7:10 remaining. It wasn’t until Melissa Daniels hit two free throws that the Rattlers scoring drought ended at the 6:32 mark.

“We needed to turn the heat up on them,’’ said Bibbs. “The ladies were hitting their traps and causing them a lot of confusion. That’s what good defenses do. And we want to be a good defensive team.”

Although the Aggies didn’t have impressive offensive numbers, they did have some nice performances on the boards. Sams finished with 10 rebounds and Smalley had nine. The Aggies bench contributed with 23 points led by Tierra Thomas’ 10. Plus, the Aggies bench was actually 11-for-20 from the floor.

“I don’t think I’ve seen this team miss this many shots,’’ said Bibbs about the Aggies 27-for-78 performance. “I haven’t seen a team miss that many shots in a long time. I don’t want to see that again. But no one is going to have a great game every time they play. The way our kids played off the bench just tells us we can go to our bench and get production while giving people a break.”

The Aggies are back in action Monday night at 6 when they face Bethune-Cookman from Corbett Sports Center.