Greensboro, N.C. - The A.C. was definitely on in Corbett Sports Center on Friday night. Redshirt junior Amber Calvin matched a career-high by scoring 24 points to help propel the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team (2-2) to an 81-74 win against Liberty (1-2), who was ranked 18th among mid-major schools by CollegeInsider.com.
"Amber is as cool as she wants to be when she's doing it," said N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. "It's just great to have her back and to have Mikala (Scott)."
Scott finished with 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Calvin, who had just 16 points in her first three games, more than doubled her point total with her strong performance. The redshirt sophomore out of Fayetteville, N.C., returned this season after injuring her knee before the start of the 2010-11 season.
She went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc, with four of those coming in the first half, and 6-for-8 at the free throw line. Junior forward JaQuayla Berry had 16 points for the Aggies.
With 11:18 on the clock, the Flames pulled within seven points on a layup by Devon Brown, who finished the game with 14 points. The Aggies went five minutes without scoring, a drought that ended with 7:03 to play, as Berry hit a layup to give the Aggies a three-point lead.
Catherine Kearney brought the Flames within one, at 60-59 with a layup with 6:05 left on the clock. From there, the Aggies worked to keep out of their reach, with layups and free throws. Calvin had five free throws in the last two minutes to help put the game away for the Aggies. The Aggies, in addition to having a strong shooting night, ended the game with just 15 turnovers.
Box Score: Aggies vs. Liberty
"They're a very young team, and to not lose their composure and to just keep doing positive things, is a sign that the chemistry is coming," Bibbs said.
The Aggies finished the first half with a 43-35 lead, propelled by 12 points by Calvin, all of which came from her strong 3-point shooting, 11 points by Scott, who also had a pair from beyond the arc, and 10 points by sophomore Tiffanie Adair.
Liberty pulled ahead to a quick 4-0 lead, but a pair of three-points from Scott and Calvin tied the game at 6. The Aggies took a 17-10 lead with a three-pointer from Calvin, and never trailed again. The Aggies hammered the bigger Flames on the inside, as Adair got inside the paint to score three times in the last five minutes of the first half.
The win marks the 488th career victory for Bibbs, who is now 12 away from joining the 500 win club. For Bibbs, this win against Liberty is one she really wanted.
"We didn't tell the ladies what this team was ranked. They found out later," she said. "I lost to this team, very close each time, seven times, not only here, but when I was at Hampton. I really wanted this win, I really did, and they gave it to me. "
The Aggies will be taking on ACC opponent Clemson on Monday at 7 p.m., in Corbett Sports Center. General admission tickets are $7, but N.C. A&T students can get into the game for free by showing their student OneCard. Bibbs hopes the momentum from the win against a ranked team will help the Aggies in Monday's match-up.
"This really shows us that we can play, that we can do all the things that we need to do. I think more than anything that Monday night is going to be a very, very tough game for us, but I think we're going to be ok, if we play like we did tonight," she said.
| Courtesy: NC A&T Sports Information |
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