AGGIES ELIMINATED FROM MEAC TOURNEY

Box Score
RALEIGH, NC, March 7, 2006 -- It’s not the ending North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs wanted for senior point guard Shareka Glover. Bethune-Cookman sent several defenders at Glover all night as she was chased around the court in a box-and-one all night.

 The result was a 5-for-15 night for Glover as she had her Aggie career come to an end with N.C. A&T’s  68-48 loss to Bethune-Cookman in a play-in game at the 2006 MEAC Tournament at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

 Bibbs knows there is nothing she can now do for a player who holds Aggie records in all-time assists, steals, single-game points and single-game assists except put the Aggies program among the elite.

 “Teams have been coming after her all season and she has not complained, she just put together a great season for us,’’ said Bibbs. “She has been so good for this conference. I hate to see it end for her this way, but the only thing we can do now is make sure the program she did so much for is a successful one in years to come.”

 Glover closed out her career with 11 points and four assists. Senior Kira Tillman, a junior college transfer, had 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Senior Hampton transfer Bianca Johnson, who played under Bibbs at Hampton, finished the season ranked fourth in scoring, but had her worst game of the season. She had four points on 1-for-11 shooting.

 “We probably didn’t come out with the kind of intensity we needed to and that could be because we beat this team twice earlier,’’ said Glover, speaking about the 18-point win the Aggies had in Corbett and the 25-point win the Aggies earned in Daytona Beach, Fla. “We didn’t play like this could be our last game of the season.”

 The Wildcats opened the game on a 9-0 run and later put together a 9-1 run in the first half to take a 24-11 lead with 5:48 remaining in the first half. Freshmen Ahmad Williams got hot from the field. The Louisiana native scored nine points over a three-minute span to pull the Aggies to within two, 28-26 with 1:59 to play in the first half.

 But a trend that would become a disturbing one throughout the game started to occur. Every time the Aggies got close, the Wildcats expanded their lead. The Wildcats scored the final five points of the half to take a seven-point lead, 33-26.

 N.C. A&T, who never took the lead Tuesday, tied the game twice in the second half. The final time it was Kira Tillman’s jump shot from the left corner to tie the game at 39 with 14:34 remaining. With a chance to take the lead on their ensuing possession, the Aggies turned the ball over. Bethune-Cookman guard Katie Clark took advantage by scoring on a layup, and when the Wildcats beat the N.C. A&T press for another layup they pulled ahead by four.

 Following a Melea Gibson free throw, Wildcats forward Cassandra Calcagno hit two free throws to put the Wildcats up five. LaKeisha Williams pulled the Aggies to within two at the 10:51 mark.

 Keturhah Newkirk, who hit six 3-pointers on the day, hit back-to-back threes to ignite a 13-0 run in which she would hit another three during the run. The run put the Aggies down 58-43 with 4:49 to play. They never recovered.

 “She came to play tonight,’’ said Bibbs referring to Newkirk’s 18-point, 10-rebound performance. “Bethune came ready to really play tonight and I don’t think we ever matched their intensity, so you have to give credit where credit is due.”

 The Aggies end the season 9-19 overall and had a 9-9 finish in the MEAC regular season. Glover was the highlight of the season. She reached the 1,000-point plateau and broke the assists and steals records at the school.