Feb. 10, 2007

Final Stats

Greensboro, N.C. - Bethune-Cookman College held tough for 30 minutes, but they eventually gave out in the end as North Carolina A&T State University earned a big conference victory on Saturday night with a 73-61 decision at Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C.

It officially became a record, but not the one B-CC (4-19, 1-11 MEAC) wanted to set on Saturday afternoon. B-CC set the longest losing skid in over four years as they dropped their 10th consecutive contest.

Bethune-Cookman led early-on by as many as seven (15-8) when Danetta Simpson dipped through the back door for a lay-up. But N.C. A&T's (13-10, 8-4 MEAC) Ta'Wuana Cook connected on two of her 16 points to tie the contest at 17-17 with 10:36 left in the opening half.

The Lady Aggies would not relinquish the lead after regaining it with two free throws from Brittany Taylor-James. In fact, N.C. A&T extended their lead out to 36-24 with just under three minutes remaining in the half.

In the second half, B-CC held strong as they cut the lead out to 48-42 in favor of the Lady Aggies with 13:46 remaining as senior forward Cassandra Calcagno hit two of her team-high 18 points on a lay-up ... assisted by Traci Fountain. Minutes later, it appeared that B-CC got tired and the Lady Aggies started to roll as Shantar Waddell drove the lane for a lay-up to put her team up 64-47 with 5:16 left in the game.

B-CC committed a season-high tying 30 turnovers a month ago in Daytona Beach against the Lady Aggies, and they almost tied that mark today as they were forced into 29 miscues. That eventually led to 27 N.C. A&T points off turnovers. The `Cats, however, did win the battle of the boards as they outrebounded the Lady Aggies, 42-30.

North Carolina A&T was led in scoring on the night by Amber Bland with a game-high 23 points and five steals. Behind her in double figures for the Lady Aggies were Cook (16), Taylor-James (12) and Ahmad Williams (10). Williams also pulled in a team-high seven rebounds.

B-CC was led by Calcagno's 18-point performance to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Junior forward Natasha Ferguson also touched double-figures with 11 points, six assists and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, fellow Wildcat Monique Bassett added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists for B-CC.

The `Cats will look to break their current 10-game losing skid on Monday night when they travel to conference foe South Carolina State for a 5:30 pm contest.