SPARTANS
DEFEAT AGGIESNORFOLK, VA., January 28, 2006 – Patricia Cage-Bibbs hopes 100 is better than 600. The Aggie women’s basketball coach coached her 600th game on Saturday, and saw her team drop to 4-13 overall and 4-4 in the MEAC with a 77-64 loss to Norfolk State at Echols Arena.
“After you’ve coached so many games you come to realize that there are some nights when everything is working and then there are some nights when nothing is clicking,’’ said Bibbs. “Unfortunately, for us we had one of those nights where we just couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm, and Norfolk State came out there and played tough.”
Shareka Glover followed up her 45-point performance on Monday with 16 points, five assists, five steals and four rebounds on Saturday. Bianca Johnson led the Aggies with 23 points and six rebounds.
Both Johnson and Bibbs will return to Hampton University on Monday as the Aggies face the Pirates. Bibbs coached the Pirates from 1997-2004, leading the Pirates to three NCAA appearances.
Johnson played under Bibbs, and won a MEAC Championship during the 2002-2003 season with Hampton. If Bibbs can beat her former team, she will earn her 100th MEAC victory. Ninety-five of those wins came at Hampton. The game starts at 5:30 p.m.
“We’ll have to come out and give a better effort than we did tonight,’’ Bibbs said about the Hampton match-up. “I view the Hampton game like I view all of our games. We need to win.”
The Aggies will need to shoot better from the field, the free throw line and 3-point arc if they are to earn that win. On Saturday, the Aggies shot 34.3 percent from the field. They struggled to get Glover away from the Spartans’ defense, which had one player follow her the whole night while the other players played zone.
The Spartans also denied Glover the ball often, forcing other players to bring the ball up the floor. In the meantime, the Spartans ability to force the Aggies into long-range jumpers allowed their players to run out in transition and score on layups.
With 5:03 remaining in the game, Toia Johnson received one of those opportunities as she escaped down court after a missed Aggies jumper to give Norfolk State a 72-47 lead. It was the biggest Spartans lead of the night.
The Aggies begin to rally as Glover began to escape the Spartans defense. Glover started a string of nine straight points when she was fouled on a 3-pointer with 3:34 remaining. Glover’s streak cut Norfolk State’s lead from 73-53 to 74-62 with 1:45 remaining.
A Johnson layup cut the lead to 10, but it was too late. Two Ashley Bowman free throws sealed the game for the Spartans (5-12, 2-6). Toia Johnson and Ashley Green had 18 points apiece and Ashley Bowman added 16.
The Aggies tied the game at 18 in the first half at the 8:40 mark on a LaKeisha Williams layup. The Spartans would go on an 11-0 run capped off by a Green jumper as the Spartans went into the locker room with a 37-24 halftime lead.