GREENSBORO - Defense continues to be North Carolina A&T's
most effective weapon. Five games into the season, no one has been able to
score more than 60 points against the A&T women's basketball team.
Winston-Salem State was the latest victim as the Aggies
cruised to a 56-43 win over the Rams Sunday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center.
The Rams shot just 12 percent from the field in the first half and 25 percent
for the game. In fact, the Rams trailed 24-11 at halftime.
"Right now, I'm okay with our lack of execution on some of
our offensive sets because I know our ladies don't understand the purpose and all
the principles of all of those sets yet. I feel like that will come with time,"
said A&T coach Tarrell Robinson. "But we've focused on defense since the
day I first took the job. I think if we can continue to play well defensively
throughout the season, we'll be in position to win a MEAC Championship."
After being hired as the women's coach at A&T, Robinson
noticed the Aggies scored 70 points per game, but also gave up nearly as many
on the defensive end. He believed if he
could get his ladies to make defense more of a priority, the Aggies could
improve upon their 15-win season from the 2011-12 season.
The Aggies (3-2) have won three straight, and despite their
loss to nationally-ranked Nebraska, they held the Cornhuskers to just 58
points. Opponents are shooting just 37.5 percent against A&T from the field
and 24.4 percent from 3-point range. The strong showing on the defensive side will
aid the Aggies while they try to improve their offensive precision.
A&T did shoot a season-high 46.8 percent from the floor,
and dominated Winston-Salem State around the basket by scoring 36 of its 56
points in the paint. But A&T did turn it over 19 times in a game that was
largely played at a slow pace.
"I'm happy with the win," said Robinson. "I'm not happy that
we turned the ball over 19 times, and I'm not happy we allowed them to score 32
points in the second half. I was fairly confident in what the outcome would be
today, so I was more interested in how we were going to get it done. We have to
do a better job of taking care of the ball, and we have to make better
decisions with our passes."
It took the Rams more than 6 ½ minutes to score to open the second
half. The Aggies took advantage of their height advantage by scoring around the
basket. Ten of their first 12 second-half points came in the paint as they took
a 36-14 lead with 11:46 remaining in the game. The Aggies also effectively used
their bench on Sunday. Tiffanie Adair, a member of the All-MEAC Rookie team
last season, led the Aggies with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in a reserve
role. Center Eboni Ross came off the bench to score four points, block four
shots, grab nine rebounds and dish out three assists.
"I'm still trying to figure everyone out. I'm still trying
to figure out what I can get out of certain individuals," said Robinson. "As we
move into the conference, as the season progresses, I feel like we have a lot
of depth at every position. There are 10 people on this team I could start
depending on this or that."
Starting A&T point guard Adriana Nazario gave the Aggies
their biggest lead of the game, 50-26, with 6:01 remaining. The Rams did shoot
the ball better toward the game's end, but they still trailed 56-36 with a
little more than a minute remaining in the game.
The Aggies will try to continue their defensive ways when they
face the Richmond Spiders on the road Wednesday evening at 4. The Aggies will
then play their first conference game of the season, a showdown with archrival
N.C. Central, which starts Saturday afternoon at 2 at Corbett.
