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Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 11, 2010 5:52:46 GMT -5
Top-seeded Aggies stunned in women's tournament Thursday, March 11, 2010 (Updated 5:47 am) By BRIAN HENDRICKSON Special to the News & RecordWINSTON-SALEM -- Whitney Wiley cupped her hands over her mouth, stumbling and looking as though she was about to faint as S.C. State teammates swarmed her. And anyone who followed the N.C. A&T women's basketball team likely felt a similar sensation. Wiley's heavily contested 3-pointer slipped through the net with 1.9 seconds remaining to give the eighth-seeded Bulldogs a 61-60 upset of the Aggies on Thursday at Joel Coliseum. The shot also gave S.C. State the first quarterfinal upset of a top seed in MEAC tournament history. "We had yet to beat one of the top teams in the conference," said S.C. State coach Doug Robertson. "That's something I wanted to do for the players. ... More than anything, we just needed to know what that feeling is like." But most teams experienced a much different feeling against A&T this season. The Aggies (21-10) had rolled through most of the regular season, winning 15 of their last 17 games. A 14-2 conference record gave A&T the regular-season championship by two games, and the Aggies held plenty of momentum after posting an average winning margin of 22.1 points in their last 10 victories, including a 20-point rout of S.C. State late last month. Read more: www.news-record.com/content/2010/03/11/article/top_seeded_aggies_stunned_in_womenaposs_tournament
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pitbull
Full Member
2008,2009, 2010 MEAC Football Champions: A sleeping giant has just been awakened!!!!
Posts: 187
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Post by pitbull on Mar 11, 2010 7:12:04 GMT -5
She's right from Greensboro...So you know her family was going bananas......
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Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 11, 2010 11:03:23 GMT -5
AGGIES ELIMINATED FROM TOURNEY
WINSTON-SALEM – In track and field it might not have turned out so well.
But on Wednesday afternoon, Whitney Wiley’s shot put 3-point jump shot actually went in with 1.9 seconds remaining as the S.C. State women’s basketball team upset top seeded North Carolina A&T 61-60 in the quarterfinals of the MEAC Tournament played at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Wiley’s shot was so inexplicable, it will likely have Aggie fans bewildered for days to come. After Tyronnica Alford hit one of two free throws to give the Aggies 60-58 advantage with 13 seconds to play, the Aggies defensive effort down the floor looked like it would be enough to advance to Friday’s semifinal game.
Ta’Wuana Cook was all over Wiley. Wiley leaned into Cook trying to draw a foul while shooting the basketball. Cook stood her ground. Therefore, Wiley’s attempt at drawing a foul turned into an awkward launch reminiscent of a shot put throw. It might as well been a gold medal throw because Wiley’s ugly shot actually went in.
“It didn’t get down to the last shot,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. “It got down to the fact that we didn’t put two halves together. We missed a lot of easy shots around the basket, and we missed free throws.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs played with a sense of urgency all afternoon. Even when the Aggies appeared to have the Bulldogs in a position to blow them out on a Ta’Wuana Cook floater in the lane to give N.C. A&T a 35-23 three minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs fought back so hard they had a 47-41 lead with 8:01 to play.
Freshman Amber Calvin brought her team together during a media timeout to give them a fiery speech. The pep talk seemed to reignite the Aggies. Four minutes later, Jaleesa Sams found a cutting Calvin going to the basket for a layup and a 51-49 Aggies lead. Wiley quickly answered with a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 52-51 lead with 3:45 to play.
The two teams went back-and-forth before a Lamona Smalley spin move gave the Aggies a 59-56 lead with 50 seconds to play. The Bulldogs again found a way to stay alive. On their next trip down the floor, the Bulldogs grabbed three offensive boards before Paris Alston scored on a put back to put the Bulldogs down one, setting up the tremendous finish.
“It was a tough loss,’’ said Bibbs. “But it happens in this game. We have truly been blessed as a team. We won the regular season, and when you do that the expectation is for you to do well in the tournament. But it just didn’t happen for us today. These are the type of things that can happen in a tournament.”
The Aggies become the first No. 1 seed in MEAC Tournament history to lose in the quarterfinals. But all is not lost. The Aggies will play in the WNIT as the MEAC regular-season champion representative. Calvin led the Aggies with 14 points and four assists. Cook added 11 points, while Smalley finished with seven points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Greensboro native Paris Alston led the Bulldogs with 16 points and six rebounds.
“We didn’t expect this loss, but we’ll bounce back,’’ said Cook. “We still have postseason play, so we just have to get back together and get ready.”
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oleschoolaggie
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2009 Poster of the Year, 2009 Most Knowledgeable Poster
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Mar 11, 2010 11:48:19 GMT -5
unlike eaves, bibbs accepts her loss with dignity. no finger pointing and player blaming at all. coach bibbs, you're a class act...
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Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 11, 2010 11:52:37 GMT -5
Every time I have seen Eaves in action or at a post game press conference he has been classy.
I find it hard to believe the statements attributed to him after the WSSU and Morgan State losses.
If true, what does that say about the heralded class of HS school players he has coming in next year? Should they be offended?
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Post by aahhbigboy on Mar 11, 2010 11:54:12 GMT -5
Oldschool, you are hilarious...........but,
I do agree that you can't throw your players under the bus publicly. Hunt used to do that. And as bad as it gets at UNC or UCONN, you'll never hear their coaches do it. Eaves is wrong for that. That's a big no no in coaching.
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oleschoolaggie
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Posts: 24,243
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Mar 11, 2010 12:18:16 GMT -5
sorry, but bashing the players bends me the wrong way. i actually like eaves and i'd really like to see him succeed. but how do you publicly state you need to recruit jucos when you have an "unlimited talent" in a thomas coleman on your team? coleman didn't even make 2nd team all conference as a junior! in fact, i don't think he's made all conference since he's been here. is coleman the blame for that? does eaves expect to land a juco who's better than coleman?
i see no "physical attributes" that morgan's thompson has that coleman doesn't have. the difference between the two is that thompson is by far more fundamentally sound than coleman and thompson plays on a team that values inside play. bringing in jucos ain't gonna change that. better coaching can.
the first time i noticed eaves blaming his players, i kinda blew it off. the second time he did it, i raised an eyebrow. but now, imo, it's become excessive. when the best coaches do a poor job coaching, they accept responsibility. roy williams does it, coach "k" does it, and most of the best coaches do it. but i haven't read one single article where eaves has stated that he could have done a better job coaching or he could have done a better job making adjustments. its always the players didn't do this or the players didn't do that, as if the coach isn't responsible for what the players do and don't do.
i like eaves and i hope he gets it together. but dayum, man. how 'bout showing a little humility from time to time...
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Post by aahhbigboy on Mar 11, 2010 12:34:44 GMT -5
Dude has gotten 2-3 extensions and hasn't won anything. That is freaking unheard of in this era of college basketball on any level!
You can forget about humility brother. He can do what he wants at this point.........and the fans and the players just have to take it.
It's nothing more than that.
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Post by aggiedog on Mar 11, 2010 13:36:04 GMT -5
I believe players lose respect for their coach over time when they are openly criticised and he never manup to his own short comings.
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Post by aggiepaul on Mar 11, 2010 14:21:07 GMT -5
unlike eaves, bibbs accepts her loss with dignity. no finger pointing and player blaming at all. coach bibbs, you're a class act
Maybe u didnt see the press conference. But she basically called out her seniors. She said there was no senior leadership on dis team and she had no leaders on the team. This old a$$ lady wont take the blame for nothing.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 11, 2010 14:48:57 GMT -5
I think Tweet did a good job of being a leader for the team this year.
She does not have the natural personality of being a rah-rah type of vocal leader, but you can tell she tried to take Amber Calvin under her wing and help her development as a point guard.
But like I say, Tweet does not strike me as a "in your face, call you out in the locker room" type of person. I think she tries to lead more by example.
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Post by thefriscotxaggie on Mar 12, 2010 10:45:19 GMT -5
I agree Thrilla but next year Calvin will lead. I know Sams will be a SR. but she is not the vocal type. Dont know but I think Calvin held back as much as she could being a freshman and she has mad respect for Tweet.
But hey the season is not over with lady aggies have nothing but opportunity in front of them. If they pull it together they could make some noise in the NIT.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 12, 2010 10:57:27 GMT -5
I can't really think of anyone on this team who would fit the description of a "vocal leader".
I agree that Calvin seems to have that kind of fire and hopefully she will step into more of a leadership role since she no longer will be a newcomer.
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Post by Blankman on Mar 12, 2010 12:18:13 GMT -5
I can't really think of anyone on this team who would fit the description of a "vocal leader". I agree that Calvin seems to have that kind of fire and hopefully she will step into more of a leadership role since she no longer will be a newcomer. I agree with Thrilla on this. I believe Calvin will step up her game to another level also
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oleschoolaggie
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Posts: 24,243
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Mar 12, 2010 12:50:49 GMT -5
unlike eaves, bibbs accepts her loss with dignity. no finger pointing and player blaming at all. coach bibbs, you're a class act Maybe u didnt see the press conference. But she basically called out her seniors. She said there was no senior leadership on dis team and she had no leaders on the team. This old a$$ lady wont take the blame for nothing. no, i didn't see nor hear the press conferences. so i can't really comment on what she might have said. but if she did callout her seniors, i'd say that is uncharacteristic of her and she gets a pass from me since she hasn't done it repeatedly. and to be honest, it really is the seniors' responsibility to lead the team and reinforce the coach's message. they should have known that you can't come out flat in the tournament and expect to win, especially if you have a bull's eye on your back! i guess we didn't get the wakeup call that we expected after losing to hampton and morgan at the end of the season. i always thought mona was a vocal leader on the team. i know i've seen her fire up the team in previous years, on and off the court. but for some reason, i haven't seen it from her this season. i saw a little "cockiness" and lack of intensity in our ladies' body language towards the end of the season. i hate to say it, but it kinda reminded me of our men's body language. and unless you're uconn, no defending champion can afford to do that. last year our ladies were more hungry than this year because they hadn't tasted a tournament championship. but having won it last year, made it twice as difficult to win it this year. that ole saying is true. winning a championship is the easy part, repeating is the hard part! i still say we have the most talented women's team in the meac. but like i've been saying all year, we have to bring our "a" game every night (and yes, that's very hard to do). if we bring our "c" game, and a much less talented team brings their "a" game, the results of the scsu game is what you can expect...
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