HURRICANES DEFEAT AGGIES

Box Score
CORAL GABLES, FLA., December 28, 2005 – Senior point guard Shareka Glover is closing in on some N.C. A&T women’s basketball milestones with each game and she is doing against top-notch competition.

 Despite a 104-65 loss to the University of Miami, Glover scored a career-high 33 points and added five assists, five rebounds and five steals for good measure. Glover also hit a career-best six 3-pointers as she was 11-for-25 from the floor and 6-for-12 from 3-point range.

 “We knew through the scouting report she was a good player,’’ said Miami coach Katie Meirer. “But we didn’t know she could knock down the outside shot the way she did. She helped us realize we have to do a better job of stopping quick players like her.”

 Glover kept the Aggies in the game early by scoring 10 of the Aggies first 15 points. Glover’s early scoring outburst helped the Aggies move to within two, 17-15 with 11:38 remaining in the first half. An Ahmad Williams layup, assisted by Glover, tied the game at 17.

 Turnovers and missed opportunities plagued the Aggies over the next five minutes. The Aggies went 1-for-8 in that stretch, including three missed layups and turned the ball over four times. The Hurricanes took advantage by outscoring the Aggies 16-3 over that period to take a 33-20 lead with 6:56 remaining in the first half.

 As if having to rally wasn’t difficult enough, Hurricanes forward Tamara James caught fire, putting the Aggies away with a barrage of 3-pointers and layups that saw her score 15 points over a five-minute stretch that included James hitting three consecutive 3-pointers as she finished the half 10-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

 She had 24 first-half points and 30 for the game as the Hurricanes held a 52-27 lead at the half.

The second half, however, was more of Glover’s show. She had 19 second-half points and is now 40 points shy of becoming the sixth N.C. A&T women’s basketball player to score more than 1,000 points in a career. She is also 19 assists shy of breaking the school record for assists.

“(Mea) Glover had outstanding game tonight and she has done so much for this program,’’ said N.C. A&T women’s basketball Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “We just have to support her effort and our players have to start producing around her because we really want her to go out with at least a MEAC Championship.”

Glover will likely become the first N.C. A&T women’s basketball player in history to score 1,000 points, dish out 300 assists and compile 300 steals in a career.

Glover will try to add to her totals and earn the Aggies their first win of the season on Thursday when they face Maine in the consolation game of the Hurricane Holiday Tournament. The Aggies then travel to LSU on New Year’s Day to face the third-ranked Tigers at 1 p.m.