AGGIES
LOSE TO UMES, GLOVER EDGES CLOSER TO RECORDS
PRINCESS ANNE, MD., January 4, 2006 -- A long scoring drought in the second half and a season-high 25 turnovers prevented the N.C. A&T women's basketball team from capturing their first victory of the season as Maryland-Eastern Shore earned a 70-55 win Wednesday night at the Hytche Athletic Center.
Senior guard Shareka Glover led the Aggies with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists in the loss. Bianca Johnson added 14 points and six rebounds, and freshman forward Tiffaney Grady added eight points and seven rebounds.
Glover can reach some significant milestones over the next week. Glover is four points shy of being the eighth women's basketball player in Aggies history to reach 1,000 points for a career. She needs just 10 assists to pass Samara Dobbins as the Aggies all-time assist leader.
Glover's 258 career assists ranks her third on the all-time list -- she needs four assists to surpass Nisha Watson and move into second.
"She has been such a dynamic player for this program,'' said N.C. A&T women's basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. "But we want her to walk out of the locker room with some wins. We need to complement those accomplishments with team wins."
The Aggies (0-11) dropped to 0-2 in the MEAC as they struggled to find their scoring touch from the first half against the Hawks. The Aggies shot 55 percent in the first half and took a 47-45 on a Bianca Johnson layup with 15:16 remaining in the game. Johnson's field goal would be the last of its kind for a long period of time.
The Hawks pulled even on two Tiffany Reid free throws, and took the lead on a Reid layup. After two Johnson free throws tied the game at 49 with 11:19 remaining in the game, the Aggies would go 4:45 before their next score. It took an Emilee Christopher 3-pointer before the Aggies field goal drought ended. It was drought that lasted 11 1/2 minutes between Johnson's basket at the 15:16 mark.
In the meantime, UMES turned a 49-49 game to a 57-49 advantage on a Toni Kennedy 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining. Kennedy struck again at the 5:22 mark as her fourth three of the game gave the Hawks a their biggest lead of the game at 62-50. Kennedy finished with 17 points, while Reid added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
"I was pleased with what I saw from freshmen,'' Bibbs said. "As the season goes along we may have to rely on them more and more as we try to put some wins on the board."
Bibbs will try to again earn her first win as the N.C. A&T women's basketball coach when she and the Aggies travel to Dover, Del., to face Delaware State on Monday at 5:30 p.m.