BULLDOGS DEFEAT AGGIES

Box Score
ASHEVILLE, NC, December 20, 2005 -- Those wishing to audition for playing time for the N.C. A&T women's basketball team still can. Head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs is looking for the seven or eight players who she can place in her rotation for the conference season and be successful.

On Tuesday night against UNC-Asheville, eight players played 15 or minutes and 12 players played all together in an 80-62 loss to the Bulldogs at the Justice Center.

"We've got to see what we've got,'' said N.C. A&T women's basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. "We're going to keep sticking them out there because we want to see what the players are going to give us. From what we see in the coming days is going to determine who we're going to play when it comes time to win conference games."

Senior guard Shareka Glover and sophomore guard LaKeisha Williams had 16 points apiece. Glover added six assists and four steals to her totals. She is 23 assists shy of breaking the Aggies assists record and 40 steals shy of breaking the school's steals record.

It was Glover who kept the Aggies in the game early. She had four points and two assists in the first four minutes of the game to even the score at 8-8. The Aggies, however, struggled to find their touch from the perimeter and the free throw line and the Bulldogs took advantage.

The Bulldogs' Amanda Elder hit the first of four first-half 3-pointers for the Bulldogs to give UNC-Asheville a 13-8 lead. The Bulldogs lead increased to eight, 20-12, on an Elder free throw, but the Aggies moved to within five an a jumper by Kira Tillman and a free throw by Bianca Johnson.

Another three by the Bulldogs, however, halted the Aggies momentum. This time it was Kristal Hood. An Elder layup and a Ashton Barton 3-pointer later and the UNC-Asheville lead grew to nine. The Aggies remained within striking distance throughout the first half as they even got back to within eight, 30-22,  on an Ahmad Williams jumper with 7:09 remaining in the first half.

But a 6-0 Bulldogs run pushed the lead to 14 -- the biggest of the half -- and a Hood 3-pointer helped the Bulldogs go into the locker room with a 12 point advantage. The Bulldogs had the advantage despite the Aggies shooting 52 percent from the floor and having fewer turnovers.

The downside for N.C. A&T, however, was zero 3-pointers and 3-for-9 shooting from the free throw line. "We've got to execute,'' said Bibbs. "That's the bottom line. We have got to find a way to execute if we want to be successful."

The Aggies never were able to get the lead under double figures in the second half as they fell to 0-7 on the season. The Aggies will play in the Hurricane Holiday Tournament on December 27 and 28 before facing nationally-ranked LSU on New Year's Day.