SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Wofford used some timely shooting and a 24-point performance from April Moorhouse to defeat the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team 68-61 Thursday afternoon at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
It was the fourth straight loss for an Aggies team who has played their last four games away from home. Fortunately, Thursday's game was a far departure from Wednesday's 24-point loss at Charlotte. The Aggies out-rebounded Wofford (44-34), received a strong performance from first-team all-conference standout JaQuayla Berry and despite having another poor-shooting first half, the Aggies cut down on their turnovers considerably.
The Aggies (6-6) will take the next three days off before returning to practice to prepare for their Dec. 29 game at Georgia Tech. The Aggies have a home game against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 2, five days before the full brunt of the conference schedule begins.
"I hope they get refocused over the Holiday," said N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs, whose 500th career victory will now happen on or after Jan. 28. "It's going to be very difficult when we get back here. We hope they take these three days and enjoy whatever they enjoy, get out whatever they need to get out, and bring back with them the energy that we don't always see and the urgency we don't always see. I want them to have a good time with their families and then comeback ready to win."
In an attempt to win at Wofford, Bibbs tinkered with her lineup. She started freshmen Adriana Nazario and Jaylan Bodiford. Berry came off the bench, and Mikala Scott didn't play in the first half. The move didn't solve the Aggies first half shooting problems. They shot 21.9 percent over the first 20 minutes, and trailed 22-17.
"We did a good job of out-rebounding them," said Bibbs. "We still let them get too many points, but we scored more in the second half. In the first half, the ball wouldn't fall, couldn't fall, didn't fall. That's still a concern."
The move did rejuvenate Berry. She finished with 27 points and nine rebounds on 9-for-15 shooting from the field. The Aggies may have also discovered a new lockdown defender in DeAndra Davis, who was assigned to Moorhouse in the second half.
Davis had two big steals in the second half. The first came with 6:03 remaining as she jumped into the passing lane to intercept a Logan Morris pass, scoring on the other end to move the Aggies to within two, 50-48. But Erin Foster, who had 15 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range, hit the first of Wofford's two timely 3-pointers to bump the lead back to five.
Berry answered with a power move in the paint, and Davis picked up another steal and layup to close the gap to 53-52 with 3:16 to play. Two Rachel Brittenham free throws gave the Terriers a 3-point lead before Berry twisted and turned her way into the lane for another layup.
"When she comes off the bench, she's hungry," said Bibbs, about Berry. "That's what we need out of her".
The Aggies had a chance to take the lead, but when Nikia Gorham's layup rolled off the rim, Brittenham drove down the lane and dished out to a wide open Morgan Wrighston for crushing 3-pointer that gave Terriers a 58-54 lead with two minutes to play.
"We shot a lot of threes," said Bibbs, about an Aggies team who was 3-for-23 from three. "We weren't supposed to do that. We wanted to take short jumpers to open up the middle. The difference today was their threes were timely. We were just shooting."
Tracy King's put back of a Bodiford miss moved the Aggies back to within two. But a 3-point play from Wrightson with 46 seconds to play, gave the Terriers a 61-56 lead, and all but ended the Aggies' hope for a road win.
"Over the last four games, I know that we are a better team than we've displayed," said Bibbs. "I know Amber (Calvin) is hurting. I know Tracy (King) is hurting. We're banged up. We've got to find people on that bench who can come off and make a contribution. We'll have that figured out when conference comes."
