WINSTON-SALEM – Teams who are not accustomed to playing in large
arenas often find it difficult to find their shooting touch from the
outside. Thanks to a schedule that took the North Carolina A&T women's
basketball team to such places as LSU, Iowa State and New Mexico, it's
not much of an issue.
The Aggies played at the 15,000-seat Lawrence Joel
Veterans Memorial Coliseum Monday night against arch-rival Winston-Salem
State. Not only did the Aggies not have trouble shooting the ball from
the perimeter, they also didn't have any trouble with the Rams as they
cruised to a 79-53 win.
It was the Aggies 14th straight win over
the Rams. The Aggies have won those games by an average of 21.4 points.
“This is the way it's been for us all year long,''
said N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “When we were on the road
all that time, we played in coliseums in front of hostile crowds. So my
ladies aren't fazed by it.”
What makes that even more appealing to know is that
the Aggies will try to defend their MEAC title at the LJVM in March. The
Aggies shot 52.6 percent from the field and were 11-for-20 from 3-point
range. But Bibbs was quick to point that after going 25-for-27 from the
free throw line on Saturday against S.C. State, the Aggies were just
8-for-18 from the line on Monday.
“I believe in this team,'' said Bibbs, who saw the
Aggies shoot 35 percent from the floor on Saturday. “We're going to put
it all together and come out with some consistency. But when you are
getting to the basket and getting open shots like we were tonight, you
need to knock those shots down. We did that tonight.”
Freshman Amber Calvin got the Aggies started. She
hit four of her first six 3-pointers to give the Aggies a 19-9 lead 5 ½
minutes into the game. Calvin went to the bench at the 11:28 mark with
two first-half fouls. The Rams sliced the Aggies lead to 23-21 before
Ta'Wuana Cook took over the shooting.
Cook made two 3-pointers in between a Tyronnica Alford free throw to give the Aggies a 30-21 advantage with 7:36 to play
in the first half. The Aggies lead grew to as many as 17 in the first
half as 10 of their 11 3-pointers went through the basket in the first
half.
The Aggies were led by Cook's 15 points. Calvin
added 14, and Smalley finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Vontisha Woods and MaLisa Bumpus had 15 apiece. The Aggies begin a
four-game stretch at home starting Saturday when they take on Coppin
State at 2 p.m.
