Lady Aggie
Basketball
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Bland in AggieLand: She has lived up to the expectations that preceded her before she put on an Aggies uniform…After sitting out a season following her transfer from Penn State, she made an impact of the N.C. A&T program…An impact that could be felt for years to come…Bland’s ability to excel at many facets of the game as earned her back-to-back first-team All-MEAC selections…Bland is an excellent 3-point shooter… She has led the Aggies in scoring over the past two seasons…She currently ranks eighth on the Aggies all-time scoring list, but because she will attend N.C. A&T for only three seasons, she is still 721 points shy of becoming the Aggies all-time leading scorer…She also ranks ninth on the Aggies all-time rebounding list, sixth on the Aggies all-time assists list, sixth on the Aggies all-time steals list and she is on pace to become the Aggies all-time leader in 3-pointers made and 3-point field goal percentage….She has played in and started all 63 games the Aggies have played during her tenure…She has scored 20 or more points 24 times in her career…She has led the Aggies in scoring 30 times and has scored in double figures in 55 of the 63 games she has played as an Aggie…She has led the Aggies in rebounding 11 times and in assists 17 times…Bland has scored 1,086 points, grabbed 346 rebounds and dished out 177 assists and recorded 174 steals during her career…She has been named MEAC Player of the Week four times in her career.
2007-2008: Played in 33 games with 33 starts…Averaged 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.6 assists per game…Shot .456 from the floor, .393 from 3-point range and .865 from the free throw line…Ranked 39th in the country in steals, 121st in field goal percentage and 139th in scoring…Led the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.393) and was second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game (1.94)…Ranked fifth in the MEAC in scoring, eighth in field goal percentage and sixth in steals…Bland was also second in assist-to-turnover ratio, 10th in minutes played (31.45), 18th in rebounding and 14th in assists…Named first-team All-MEAC for the second straight season…Was also named to the North Carolina Sports Information Association first-team for the second straight season…She recorded her third career double-double on Nov. 24 when she had 20 points and 12 rebounds on 8-for-15 shooting in a win over Boston University in the UNCG Thanksgiving tournament championship game…Bland was named the tournament’s MVP and made the all-tournament team…She failed to score in a Dec. 5 game against Virginia Tech, marking the first time in her career she has been held scoreless in a game…Redeemed herself with 26 points on 10-for-13 shooting in a win over Campbell at Corbett Sports Center…She followed that performance with a strong performance against No. 12 Texas A&M…Bland scored 23 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists in a near upset of the A&M Aggies on Dec. 30…Recorded 24 points and had nine rebounds on 8-for-14 shooting in a road win over Howard on March 1…Recorded her fourth career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in a MEAC quarterfinal tournament win over Florida A&M on March 12…She had just 10 points in the championship game against Coppin State, but hit a big 3-pointer to tie the game at 70 with 25 seconds remaining…Had 18 points in the Aggies WNIT opening round game against S.C. State.
2006-2007: Played in 30 games with 30 starts… Broke single-season school records in points scored (589), points per game (19.6), field goals attempted (497) and minutes played (1,100)…Finished four steals shy of Shareka “Mia” Glover’s single-season school record for steals in a season with 84…Ranked in the top 50 nationally in four different statistical categories…Named first-team All-MEAC last season after leading the conference in scoring, becoming the first Aggie to lead the conference in scoring since Malveata Johnson did it in 2000…Also named to the North Carolina Sports Information Association first-team…Earned MEAC Player of the Week honors three times, which was more times than any other player in the conference…Averaged 19.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.8 steals and 36.67 minutes played…Nationally, ranked 20th in scoring, 25th in 3-point field goals made per game (2.5), 26th in steals per game and 38th in 3-pont field goal percentage (.375)…Ranked in the top five in the MEAC in five different statistical categories and finish in the top 10 in the conference in eight different statistical categories….Led the conference in 3-point field goal percentage…Finished third in the conference in steals, second in 3-pointers made per game and second in minutes played per game…Played 40 minutes on 10 different occasions during the season…Also finished in the top in the conference in rebounds per game (5.5), defensive rebounds (3.97) and field goal percentage (.417)…Did her best work inside Corbett Sports Center, averaging 20.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, while shooting .433 from the field…Showed throughout the season her value by leading the Aggies in scoring 18 times, in assists nine times and in rebounding four times…Scored in double figures in 27 of the 30 games she played, including 15 games in which she scored 20 points or more and three times in which she scored 30 points or more…Scored just four points in her first two games combined as an Aggie, but then went on a streak of 27 straight games in which she scored in double figures…Had her breakout game against Providence on Nov. 24 when she scored 30 points, had six rebounds and five steals on 14-for-25 shooting in a loss…Followed that performance on the next day with 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals on 10-for-18 shooting in a 79-63 win over Longwood in the UNC-Greensboro Holiday Tournament…Scored 33 points on 12-for-26 shooting from the field and 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range in a loss to Texas Christian on Dec. 30…Had a 30 points and seven rebounds on 12-for-15 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range in a loss to Coppin State on Feb. 17…Registered her first career double-double on Jan. 6 when she had 25 points and 11 rebounds in a 74-59 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore…Followed that performance with another double-double as she scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds to go along with six assists to help the Aggies defeat Howard 87-73…Had 22 points, nine steals and hit five 3-pointers in a 75-62 win over Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 13…Had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on 8-for-18 shooting in a 91-69 win over Hampton.
At Penn State: Provided the Nittany Lions with instant offense off the bench…Played behind the talented Jess Strom as a freshman…Averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds…Shot .387 from the floor and .632 from the line…Scored in double figures twice…Played in 29 games for the Nittany Lions with one start…Start came at Northwestern on Jan. 27…Scored three points on 1-for-2 shooting…Scored 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting against Baylor on Dec. 11…Scored 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting in a win over Michigan on Feb. 3…Made 5 of 6 free throws and scored nine points in a win over Indiana.
Boardman High School Career: Played four seasons of varsity basketball at Boardman High School under Ron Moschella…Was ranked among the top 50 players in her class…Was rated among the top 30 guards in the country…Set the Ohio State record for points in a game with 51…Also holds the mark for most points in a career with 2,129...Named Ohio Player of the Year as a sophomore and senior…Was named as an Adidas All-American…Named MVP in the Adidas All-Star Game…Selected to play in the Olympic Festival Training Camp, where 47 of the top players compete…She also played volleyball and participated in track and field in high school.
Personal: Full name is Amber Nicole Bland…She is the daughter of Willie and Maria Bland…She has two siblings, Chris and Brittany…She was born on February 2, 1986…She is a journalism and mass communications major who enjoys writing, watching movies, dancing and cooking…Chose N.C. A&T because she believes historically black colleges and universities are often overlooked…She wanted to find an HBCU with a great educational foundation, a great community and a great coaching staff…She had an idea she would play Division I basketball when she was recruited by school’s all over the country after her first year of high school…Her father Willie Bland played college basketball at Louisiana Tech with former NBA All-Star Karl Malone.