GREENSBORO-It came down to the last shot and last possession
against Florida A&M Monday night, and the North Carolina A&T women's
basketball team put the ball into the hands of clutch shooter Amber Calvin with four seconds on the
clock.
The Aggies got the ball on their side of the floor with 11
seconds remaining. After dribbling and
working to help Calvin get open, freshman Jessica Lyons passed the ball to Calvin,
who took aim and shot, but it went wide right.
Sophomore Tiffanie Adair made a grab for the rebound, but FAMU forward
Qiana Donald came up with the ball as the clock expired, leaving the Rattlers
victorious 70-68.
"Amber is the best 3-point shooter in the conference. It just fell short," said head coach Patricia
Cage-Bibbs. "That's who I wanted to have
the ball, yes. Even though she had not
shot the ball well from the three tonight, she does shoot well in the
clutch. She had the open look, but just
couldn't knock it down."
The Aggies (7-9, 2-1) tied the game at 56-56 on a pair of
free throws from sophomore Tracy King, who ended the game with a team-high 17
points, six assists and four steals, with 8:28 left in the contest. The Rattlers took a four-point lead before
Lyons made a pair of free throws after being fouled by guard Kimberly Sparkman
to make it a 62-60 game with 3:49 remaining.
The Rattlers took a six-point lead following a pair of 3-pointers from
Antonia Bennett, who had 25 points and 11 boards, and Jasmine Grice, who
finished with 19. The last four points
the Aggies made in the contest were free throws.
"Gosh this is a tough loss, but I don't know when I was so
proud of these girls. When you take a good team like FAMU, and they executed
and we executed, it just came down to that last thing," said Bibbs, who is
seven wins away from her 500th career win.
The Aggies led by as many as seven in the first half, when a
layup by King made it a 21-14 game with 10:23 left. Later in the half, the Rattlers went on a 7-0
run to pull ahead, 32-28. A 3-pointer by
freshman forward Ariel Bursey pulled the Aggies to within one. The Rattlers followed that with another 8-0
run, as shots just weren't sinking for the Aggies, and took a 40-33 lead at the
break.
"Our kids were just about even in everything, like assists,
and they made the fewest turnovers all season," she added. "Our kids played hard, they fought, I'm very
proud of them."
The Aggies and Rattlers found most of their success in the
paint on Monday night, and had some trouble from beyond the arc. The Aggies shot 29 percent from beyond the
arc, while the Rattlers shot 21 percent.
But overall, the teams posted very similar stats, including in rebounds.
"They are one of the best rebounding teams in the
conference," Bibbs said, although she noted that the Rattlers barely edged the
Aggies in that department, 42-41.
The loss was the first in conference
play this season for the Aggies. The
Rattlers remain perfect in MEAC play (3-0) and improved to 10-5.
The Aggies travel to the nation's capital to take on Howard
on Saturday at 2 p.m.
