DULUTH, Ga.- The North Carolina A&T women's basketball had to play Thursday's game against an excellent Georgia Tech team without its starting backcourt of Amber Calvin and Mikala Scott. The Aggies couldn't overcome the disadvantage in a 74-57 loss to the Yellow Jackets at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
Sophomore guard Tracy King celebrated her birthday by scoring 23 points. The Aggies lost their fifth straight and slipped to 1-6 on the road this season. The Aggies (6-7, 1-0 MEAC) struggled with scoring droughts and had 28 turnovers in their loss to the Yellow Jackets (10-3, 0-0 ACC). But their defense, which included 13 steals, seven blocks and 19 defensive rebounds, impressed head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs.
"Seventy-four points seems like a lot of points, but against a good team like Georgia Tech, I mean, wow, we held them pretty good," Bibbs said.
"I was looking for a better offense, because I knew it was going to be tough," Bibbs added. "We were missing our two star players in Mikala and Amber. I know those are the two people who score for us. But I'm just proud of these ladies. They played well, they played great defense, even though the score doesn't reflect that. I'm hoping that our offense can come around, and we're going to win some ballgames."
Calvin and Scott account for nearly 30 percent of the Aggies offense. Calvin is the Aggies floor leader at the point guard position, averaging close to 4.0 assists per game. Their absences were evident early as the Aggies shot 19.2 percent in the first half.
They improved to 37.5 percent in the second half because they settled down according to Bibbs, who used freshman point guard Kelsei Ewings and sophomore guard/forward DeAndra Davis to replace the injured starters. Bibbs, who needs eight wins to reach 500 for her career, said Georgia Tech's size coupled with missing her starting guards made for the tough shooting performance.
Playing in the same building where they faced Florida State in the 2009 NCAA Tournament first round game, the Aggies trailed Georgia Tech 48-27 with 12:37 left on the clock. But King answered right back, driving to the basket and collecting an and-one. She next made a steal and made the fastbreak layup to make it a 48-32 game. King continued to pressure the Yellow Jackets, and collected another and-one to make it a 50-35 game with 11:14 left in the game. But Georgia Tech went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead by 24 points.
King's scoring output was her third 20-plus point game of the season and fourth of her career. JaQuayla Berry collected all 16 of her points in the second half.
"Tracy wasn't feeling the best, but she came in and played well for us," Bibbs said. "That's Tracy."
The Aggies had a rough start, going 0-for-4 in field goal attempts with four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game. A 3-pointer by King at 14:46 broke the Aggies' scoring drought, and brought them to within a point of Georgia Tech. The Aggies scoring troubles continued, and the Yellow Jackets built a lead as large as 14 in the first half. King ended a five-minute drought by the Aggies by scoring a layup from right beside the basket to make it an 18-7 game. It remained an 11-point deficit, 28-17, at the half.
The Aggies are now 1-1 against ACC opponents this season and 2-7 against them in seven seasons under Bibbs. N.C. A&T defeated Clemson at home, 76-66, on Nov. 21.
"I think we'll be ok," Bibbs said. "We just need to make sure that we execute on both ends of the floor."
The Aggies will return for their first home game since Dec. 12 on Monday, Jan. 2 when they take on UNC-Wilmington to close their non-conference schedule at 4 p.m., at Corbett Sports Center. The Aggies will continue their mission to win their fourth MEAC regular-season title under Bibbs when they host Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 7 and Florida A&M on Jan. 9 before traveling to take on Howard on Jan. 14.
"I did see some bright spots in the game," Bibbs said. "Kelsei (Ewings) did well. Jessica (Lyons) did well at point guard, I mean all of them did well. People came off the bench and they did well. I think as we move closer to conference play, we're going be ready. This team is growing, and that's what we're looking for. I know that we're desperately looking for a win, but it hasn't been that easy for us. I knew that was going to be difficult because of our youth and inexperience, but they're growing."
