WASHINGTON, D.C.-After losing to the Howard Bison in the quarterfinal
of the MEAC Basketball Tournament last March, the North Carolina A&T
women's basketball team was looking for some redemption in its first matchup of
the 2011-12 season.
They're still hunting for that redemption.
At Burr Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, the Aggies fell to
the Bison by a 65-57 final, dropping their second straight conference game.
"I thought we had a really good first half," said head coach
Patricia Cage-Bibbs after her team shot 56.5 percent in the first half and 24.1
percent in the second.
"We did not shoot well at all in the second half. That was the difference," she added. "There's no excuse for this loss except that
we didn't win it. There's no
excuse. We turned the ball over at
crucial times, even though we came under 20.
We had assists, we had everything else going, except we didn't win it."
The Aggies (7-10, 2-2) pulled within three points on a layup
by sophomore guard Tracy King, but the Bison (12-6, 4-1) padded its lead on a
jumper by Portia Deterville to make it a 44-39 contest with 11:56 remaining. Three minutes later, JaQuayla Berry made it a
50-43 game by sinking a pair of free throws.
That was followed by a 3-pointer from freshman ChyAnna
Cunningham to pull the Aggies within four.
But a couple of quick baskets by the Bison made it a 56-48 game with
3:56 remaining. Berry and King both got
to the line and made their shots, to pull the Aggies back to within six. Junior Nikia Gorham made it a 61-57 game with
a layup under the basket, but then Berry fouled
Saadia Doyle, who collected both free throws with 18 seconds left to
make it a 63-57 contest.
"I know this is one of the best preparations we've had for a
game, we had great practice all week with so much energy," Bibbs said. "We're just not knocking down shots. To hold this team to 65 is not bad
defense. We can't find the basket, and
that's hurting us."
The Aggies had three players tally double figures, with 13
off the bench from Berry, 12 from sophomore starter Tiffanie Adair and 10 from
King. Adair had nine points in the first
half for A&T. Berry led the team
with seven rebounds and five assists.
"I think Tiffanie Adair came up big for us today, she played
a really good game," Bibbs said.
The two teams battled in the first half, as the score
changed hands six times. N.C. A& T
grabbed a one point lead at 24-23 on a layup by Berry. But the Bison responded and reclaimed the
lead. The Aggies had the possession twice in the final minute with a chance to
pull ahead. But they missed their shots,
and Howard took a three-point advantage, 33-30, on a jumper by Holmes. Sophomore DeAndra Davis was then fouled with
0.01 seconds left on the clock and hit two free throws to put the Aggies down
33-32 at the break.
"We just got to go back and evaluate, and see what we
need. We missed point blank layups and
putbacks. We've got to go back and find
a way to fix it," Bibbs said.
The Aggies had just 10 players with them for this road trip,
and are hoping to return a few more players from injury. But Bibbs was quick to point out that their
depleted roster did not have any effect on the game.
"As I told the ladies, they only played six people," she
said noting that the seventh and eighth players for Howard saw one and seven
minutes respectively. "It's not about
the numbers, it's about the execution, not the numbers."
She said the Aggies have been emphasizing execution all
season.
"We're working on our shot selection, we're working on
knocking down shots, we're just working on the game of basketball," Bibbs said. "Everything is right there, the kids
know. We've just got to find and to get
some consistency somewhere to win these games.
We're going to have it. We're
going to find it this week."
The Aggies will travel to Baltimore, Md., next weekend to
take on Morgan State at 2 p.m., before they face Coppin State on Monday, Jan.
23 at 4:30 p.m. The Aggies' contest on
Jan. 23 at Coppin State will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
Game Notes
Bibbs is now 10-4 against Howard as the head coach of N.C.
A&T.
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