Smith, Carter Threes Lead A&T To Victory

GREENSBORO – During its winning streak, the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team has shown it is gritty defensively, it is good at sharing the basketball and it has tremendous depth.

To win their ninth straight, the Aggies also showed they're clutch. Christina Carter and Debbie Smith hit big back-to-back 3-pointers down the stretch clutch to lead A&T to a 58-55 win over Bethune-Cookman, Monday evening at Corbett Sports Center. The Aggies improved to 18-10 overall and 11-4 in the MEAC.

“I thought we started off slow in the first half, but I'm so proud of how my players and staff responded in the second half,” head coach Tarrell Robinson said. “They did an excellent job of making sure that we got the win.”

After trailing for majority of the second half, the Aggies finally got their breakthrough when Carter nailed a three from the top of the key to give A&T its first lead of the half 55-54 with 3:22 remaining. Two minutes later Smith, who played in her final game at Corbett on Monday, gave her a defender wicked pump fake before taking a dribble and two steps forward to hit the Wildcats hard with a 3-pointer to push A&T's lead to 58-54 with 1:37 to play.

“I wanted to win,” Smith said. “It felt good when it left my hand. In the first half I played horrible. Coach got on me and I had to show and prove to him that I could do it in the second half.”

Redshirt junior Eboni Ross put the Aggies up 26-23 with 23 seconds remaining in the first half. But B-CU's Kendra Cooper hit a three to tie the game at 26 with two seconds to play.

There was then a rambunctious ending to the first half thanks to four straight B-CU free throws due to two A&T technical fouls that helped the Wildcats go into the locker room ahead 30-26.

Smith who has led the Aggies in scoring in back-to-back games finished with 13 points. Redshirt junior Aprill McRae notched her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ross added 10 rebounds, eight points and a game-high five blocks.

“This game wasn't even about the winning streak it was about beating Bethune for position in the MEAC standings,” said McRae.

The Aggies are in a third-place tie with Norfolk State. They are hoping to earn a top-3 seed in next week's MEAC tournament to avoid having to win four games instead of three in order to be crowned champion. A&T closes out the regular season with a rival matchup against N.C. Central on Thursday, March 5. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

The Aggies could find themselves in a three-way tie for second, a two-way tie for second or a two-way tie for third at the end of the regular-season.

“We feel like we're the best team in the league,” Robinson said. “The difference between now and during the middle of the season when our team had their adversity is that our team is now responding. They're starting to mature and grow and it's a joy to see. I'm proud of them.”

Cooper led the Wildcats (12-15, 9-6 MEAC) with 19 points ahead of Knowles (15), and Terrenisha Hollis (13) who finished with nine rebounds. Defensively Kailyn Williams grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

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