GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team had their three-game winning streak snapped Saturday afternoon by the five-time MEAC regular-season champion Hampton Pirates, 55-52 at Corbett Sports Center. It marked the Aggies (7-9, 3-2 MEAC) fifth straight loss to the Pirates with the last three losses by a combined nine points.
In a game that played out live on ESPN3, it had all the dramatics of a television broadcast; scoring runs, droughts, clutch free-throws, nine leads changes, late fourth quarter ties, official reviews and overturned calls. But it was the Pirates that would ultimately collect the win in their visit to Greensboro in five years.
The game's most compelling moment came in the final two seconds of the game. Two free throws by Aggies junior guard Whitney Martin with 7.2 seconds remaining brought the Aggies to within two, 53-51. In order to stop the clock, Martin quickly fouled Hampton guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas. Tate-DeFreitas kept the Aggies hopes alive by making only one of two free throws, making it one possession game as Aggies senior guard Christina Carter came racing up the floor. As Carter launched her attempt at tying the game, she was hit on the arm by Tate-DeFreitas.
It was determined that Carter was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining. Hampton head coach David Six insisted the referees check the replay monitor to determine where Carter was when she took the jump shot. Each MEAC arena having replay is a new mandate from the conference starting this season. After looking at the play for approximately three minutes the referees overturned their original call and gave Carter two shots. Carter made the first and intentionally missed the second, but Hampton's Kristine Rose grabbed the rebound with 1.5 remaining to seal the win.
"I thought Hampton and coach Six came in here and made up their minds that they weren't going to leave without a win," said N.C. A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "When you lose by three points, and that's a one possession game, you start to think about turnovers, missed layups and missed free throws and that's what it came down to."
The final period would see six ties and four lead changes. Hampton's K'lynn Willis led all scorers with 19 points after hitting all eight of her free throws. Aggies graduate center Aprill McRae secured her fourth career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
In what has become N.C. A&T's M.O., the Aggies got out fast, scoring the game's first eight points as four of the five Aggie starters produced first quarter points. Hampton answered back with its own 9-0 run to take the late first quarter lead before an April McRae layup gave the Aggies a slim 10-9 lead heading into the second.
The second period opened with an extended scoring drought from both teams. A layup by Pirates guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas at the 6:49 mark would finally snap the drought as Hampton would outscore the Aggies 13-8 in the period to take the narrow 22-18 lead into the locker room.
The third period looked as if it would be all Pirates as the squad came out with a 6-0 run to go up by 10 points. The Aggies didn't wilt but instead soared back, narrowing their deficit to only four points heading into the final period.
Hampton improved to 5-12 overall and 3-1 in the MEAC. Next up for N.C. A&T is another home conference game 2 p.m., Monday against Norfolk State. “We've got to find a way to bounce back from this," said Robinson. "There's a lot of season left and a lot of basketball left. The championship wasn't won tonight. We've got to move forward and do the things we need to do to put ourselves in position to win."
