GREENSBORO - The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team returned back to its winning ways at home on Saturday with a convincing 81-58 win over a solid Coppin State team.
Jaquayla Berry and Reisha Bullock led the Aggies with 17 points apiece. Bullock was 7-for-8 from the floor. Senior Jaleesa Sams added 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Freshman Mikala Scott contributed with 16.
The Aggies are now poised to claim the No. 2 spot, the prognosticators had them slated for at the beginning of the season. Losses by Howard and Morgan State, moved the Aggies into a second-place tie with Morgan State.
The Morgan State Bears come to town for a 4:30 p.m., ESPNU contest at Corbett Sports Center. The Bears beat the Aggies by two earlier in the season.
"I know we have to finish strong and tonight was a good start," said N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. "It's that time of the year where you have to understand if you lose, the season's over. Our young ladies are ready for the challenge."
N.C. A&T beat Coppin State on a buzzer beater in January. The game was nowhere near as close on Saturday. N.C. A&T started the game on a 13-2 run and never really were threatened. The Eagles came to within six at 18-12 in the first half.
But a DeAndra Davis rebound led to a fastbreak layup by Mikala Scott. Scott would score on a 3-pointer during the Aggies next possession. When Sams knocked down her first 3-pointer of the game, it capped a 15-3 run that gave N.C. A&T a 33-15 lead with 3:06 remaining in the first half.
"We are preparing for what we have been looking for all year - a championship," said Bibbs. "I'm never satisfied, but in terms of our defense, we really have turned up the intensity. We just need to stop turning the ball over."
After recording 31 steals on Monday against N.C. Central, the Aggies had 21 more on Saturday. Berry finished with eight, putting her 10 steals shy of the school's single-season record. The Eagles shot just 34 percent from the floor as the Aggies won for the 32nd time in 33 tries at home against a conference foe.
