GREENSBORO –
North Carolina A&T women's basketball senior forward Lamona Smalley
looks like a player that refuses to be stopped. Ta'Wuana “Tweet” Cook
seems to have her scoring touch back, and Amber Calvin is dishing
no-look passes like the second coming of NBA star Chris Paul.
These performances are being brought to you by all the people who said
the Aggies would not be as successful without three-time first-team All-MEAC
standout Amber Bland and 2009 MEAC Player of the Year Brittanie
Taylor-James.
Coming off of a week in which she earned her first-ever MEAC Player of
the Week honor, Smalley scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished
out seven assists to lead the Aggies to a 76-46 win over
Maryland-Eastern Shore.
“It's exciting to win player of the week, but it's what I expected,''
said Smalley, who averaged a double-double last week on her way to her
first-ever player of the week recognition. “If you don't expect to be
the best then you'll fail. I don't come into games saying I'm going to
score this many points or grab this many rebounds. I just come to win.”
Winning is something the Aggies have become accustomed to doing lately.
In their last 50 conference games, the Aggies are 45-5. In each of the
previous two seasons, the Aggies have posted 15-1 records in the MEAC.
While impressive, it leaves room for something else this team can
accomplish.
“We want to go undefeated in the conference,'' said Cook. “We are not
ashamed to say it. We've gone 15-1 the last two years. This year we
really want to complete the job.”
Cook helped the Aggies improve to 16-7 overall and 10-0 in the
conference by scoring 22 points on four 3-pointers against the Hawks on
Monday. MEAC Rookie of the Week Amber Calvin had nine points and four
assists.
The Aggies opened the game on a 9-1 run and were never threatened the
rest of the night. The Aggies, who lead the MEAC in assists, dished out
16 more on Monday.
“In order to get those assists, we have to be knocking down shots,''
said head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “We have a number of players who
can hit shots, and we have a number of players who can find open
shooters. That is becoming a nightmare for our opponents.”
The last 24 MEAC foes the Aggies have faced at home have all gone down
to defeat. Senior April McBride led UMES with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Aggies will try to continue their quest for the perfect conference
season when they travel to snowed in Washington, D.C., to play Howard
Saturday afternoon at 2.
