Bland hits four 3-pointers

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 9, 2009 – There are some outstanding rebounding teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. With good rebounding comes offensive rebounding, which leads to second chance points.

With this in mind, North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs decided to set a standard. If an opponent grabs 15 or more offensive rebounds in a game, the Aggies must do some extra running at the next practice. No, the Aggies are not going to meet that standard every time, but the standard keeps the Aggies focused on the importance of rebounding the basketball.

N.C. A&T out-rebounded Bethune-Cookman Monday night as the Aggies improved to 17-5 overall and 10-0 in the MEAC with a 90-68 win over the Wildcats. It was the Aggies 11^th straight win as they out-rebounded the Wildcats 48-32 even though the Wildcats did grab 15 offensive boards.

“To win championships you have to get rebounds,’’ said Bibbs. “My thing was if you’re playing defense, but you’re letting the team get offensive rebounds then you’re not completing the task because you’re not boxing out. So I started out by saying if you let a team get 12 offensive boards then you have to pay for that in practice. It’s not that you run them to death. It’s there to drive home that the opponent only gets one shot.”

The Aggies faced two of the better rebounding teams in the conference over the last week. They tied Hampton in rebounding, while allowing 17 boards. Against Florida A&M, they were only out-rebounded by three despite allowing 16 offensive boards.

The Aggies’ strong performances on the boards continued Monday. Bethune-Cookman shot just 35.9 percent on Monday; the Aggies took advantage by pulling down 30 defensive boards.

“People overlook rebounding,’’ said senior forward Brittanie Taylor-James, who broke out of her shooting slump with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. “There are things in the game people overlook. Coach doesn’t want us to overlook the little things like boxing out and hitting free throws.”

Amber Bland, who led the Aggies with 24 points on 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range, got the Aggies going with an offensive rebound and put back that gave the Aggies a 16-11 lead at the 12:19 mark of the first half. The basket sparked a 10-1 run that was capped off by a Reisha Bullock steal and layup that put the Aggies ahead 24-12.

The Aggies were never seriously threatened again as the Aggies lead grew to as many as 18 in the first half thanks to two Bullock free throws. The only mystery left was to see how quickly some of the Aggie players could find a box score to see if they met their goal.

“We’re trying to move into the status where we are known as an excellent rebounding team because I believe that is what wins championships,’’ said Bibbs. “That’s what we’re after. We’re trying to win championships.”

The Aggies fully recall the MEAC Championship game a year ago when they were out-rebounded 44-29 in the two-point loss. The Aggies have out-rebounded 11 opponents this season. They are 10-1 in those games. Jaleesa Sams and Bullock led the Aggies on the boards Monday night with seven apiece.

The Aggies will return to action Saturday at 2 p.m., when they face Maryland-Eastern in Princess Anne, Md. They will then head to Dover, Del., to face Delaware State on ESPNU at 4:30 p.m.