Three-year starter Jaleesa Sams and seniors Tweet Cook and Lamona Smalley, owners of two MEAC regular-season championships, used their play to break open a close game in the second half. They went on to lead the Aggies to a 79-69 win over an up and coming Howard squad.

 Cook led the Aggies with a career-high 29 points. Sams finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Smalley, who leads the conference in field goal percentage, added 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting. The Aggies have won 19 straight over conference opponents at home, and have not lost at home to a conference opponent since 2007.

 The three Aggie veterans earned the win by executing the game plan – attack.

 N.C. A&T (9-7, 4-0) opened the game with an aggressive pace that appeared to catch the Bison off-guard. The Aggies ran out in transition, knocked down open threes in transition and used a 17-0 run fueled by Cook's 12 points during the run to take a 29-10 lead 10 minutes into the game.

 But the Bison, who used freshmen Saadia Doyle and Portia Deterville to hurt the Aggies on the boards Saturday, would not make it that easy. Not only did the Bison use rebounding (out-rebounded the Aggies 40-28), but the Bison also slashed to the basket to get layups and open jump shots in the paint.

 Defensively, the Bison's matchup zone began causing the Aggies problems. When Deterville hit two free throws seven minutes into the second half, the Aggies lead had been sliced to one, 48-47.

 “We weren't moving the ball quickly,'' said N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “We really became stagnant and started standing around on offense. There were gaps in that zone, so my question was why aren't we attacking? We practiced attacking their zone. We just we're executing. Jaleesa and Tweet got us going again because they were attacking.”

 Smalley scored six points and dished out two assists during a 12-4 run that gave the Aggies a 60-51 lead with 9:16 remaining. Cook, who had 18 first-half points, was silent during the first 11 minutes of the second half. But when she scored a layup on the break and hit a 3-pointer in back-to-back possessions, the Aggies lead swelled to 13 at 70-57 with five minutes to play.

 “I just wanted to use my speed to get to the basket and finish,'' said Cook who ranks 11^th in the nation in 3-point shooting. “A lot of people look for me to shoot the three. So I have to use other aspects of my game to score.”

 Howard dropped to 6-9 overall and 2-2 in the MEAC. Doyle led the Bison with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Deterville had nine points and eight rebounds with six of those rebounds coming on the offensive end. The Aggies host Hampton Monday night at 6.

 On Saturday, the Aggies wore black ribbons on the right shoulder of their jerseys in honor of Hennie Floyd, the former executive assistant to the director of athletics at N.C. A&T. Floyd retired from the N.C. A&T athletics department in November and died in December. The women's basketball team has dedicated the 2009-10 season to Floyd.

 “She was our No. 1 fan,'' said Bibbs. “Everywhere we played, if she and her husband could get there, they were there. We loved her, and she truly loved Lady Aggies basketball.”