It’s been a tough road stretch for the Lady Aggies this season but they ended it with a convincing 88-62 victory over Bethune Cookman Monday night a Moore gymnasium.

Plagued by injuries this season, the ladies appeared to finally be healing  as they used their intensified smothering defense to force the Lady Wildcats into 26 turnovers.

Junior Jalessa Sams led A&T (8-7 3-0) with a career high 25 points and added nine rebounds.

The blue and gold jumped on Bethune-Cookman early, opening with  an 11-point lead.

But the Lady Wildcats managed to cut the deficit to 1-point by the end of the first half.A&T would never turn back.

They Lady Aggies went on a 17-6 run in the second half before assuming a 20-point lead off of Sams lead.

“We’re playing some really good defense right now,” said Bibbs. “I love it. It takes effort to play defense.”

On Saturday night the Aggies faced the Rattlers of Florida A&M, beating them 79-72 at the Al Lawson Center.

Freshmen guard JaQuayla Berry led the Aggies with 16 points, shooting 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Senior guard Tweet Cook, who earned  MEAC Player of the Week honors last week, added 13 points for the Aggies. She also aided A&T in shooting 9-for-11 from the free throw line on a night where the Aggies shot 25-for-30 from the free throw line.

Christian Rateree and Qiana Donald had 19 points a piece for the Rattlers. Donald would also lead the Rattlers with 13 rebounds. LaShonda Gaines recorded 11 points and eight assist for the Rattlers.

Odds were stacked against the Aggies facing a Rattler team that recorded wins over several big-name schools and against A&T the Rattlers did not hold back. But neither did A&T. The Rattlers led the Aggies early but after a 17-3 run by the Aggies, FAMU found themselves down at the half 40-32. Freshmen Amber Calvin and Nikia Gorham made Coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs proud scoring 12 points for the Aggies in their 17-3 run.

“I’m proud of my freshmen because they don’t get flustered,” said Bibbs. “They didn’t make too many mistakes tonight. I think with the schedule we’ve played, they grew up fast. That’s going to be a good thing for us.”

A&T extended their lead to 11 after a three-point play by Jaleesa Sams. The Aggies did not hold on to the lead for long. The Rattlers went on a 15-0 run fueled by Christian Rateree who scored 9 points during the run, which gave the Rattlers a 47-43 lead. With less than five minutes to play A&T regained the lead at 63-60.

To seal their lead and the win the Aggies shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

“I have to give Florida A&M credit; they brought the best out of us tonight. We had to be a focused team tonight. They needed to listen to instructions in order to beat a team like this. And they really listened and focused in tonight.” 

• Lauren Morgan