GREENSBORO – Over the past 48 hours the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team has taken the steps to show they want to win the 2015-16 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season as they were predicted to do at the outset of the season.
N.C. A&T defeated Bethune-Cookman 68-55 Monday night at Corbett Sports Center to move into a second-place tie with Bethune-Cookman and Morgan State. The Aggies (13-10, 9-3 MEAC) play Morgan State Monday in Baltimore at 5:30 p.m. Two days prior to beating the Wildcats (15-10, 9-3 MEAC), the Aggies defeated another top team in the MEAC in Florida A&M. N.C. A&T is a half-game behind first-place Hampton.
“It was a huge win given the situation we're in with Bethune being near the top of the league,” said N.C. A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. “This time of the season we need to start to peak. There is still a lot of work to put in because there are a lot of good teams in the MEAC. But we are definitely headed in the right direction.”
Sophomore Kala Green finished with a career-high 22 points as she gave the Wildcats headaches down the stretch. After going 0-for-6 from the floor in the first half, graduate center Aprill McRae finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth career double-double. She was 5-for-7 from the floor in the second half.
“She's our rock,” said Robinson about McRae. “In terms of energy, in terms of confidence, she has to bring it, and I thought she did in the fourth (quarter).”
Whatever type of energy McRae was bringing in the fourth was contagious. Green dribbled into the lane for a short jumper for the ninth lead change of the game as the Aggies took a 49-48 lead with 4:45 remaining in the game. It would be the final lead change. Redshirt junior Dana Brown followed Green's shot by lobbing a pass in the post for McRae to score.
Once again Green got into the lane to score on another jump shot for a 53-48 Aggies lead. Green followed that jumper by pulling up from 3-point range to keep the Aggies hot streak going. Green all but put the Wildcats away with her next feat. She whipped a pass over to Brown to complete the Aggies 12-0 run as Brown netted a three to give the Aggies a 59-48 lead with 1:56 to play.
“Oh man, KG has grown up a lot,” said Robinson. “She's really grown a lot from last year. She is just starting to scratch the surface of her potential as a basketball player for this program. Today was one of those signs that she can be as good as she wants to be.”
Kailyn Williams had 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks for the Wildcats. Williams is McRae's counterpart at center and Robinson said he thought Williams got the better of the matchup in the first half before McRae's big second half. Ashanti Hunt gave the Wildcats a 26-16 lead with 2:56 remaining in the first half. A Green 3-pointer and 3-point play got the Aggies to within four as N.C. A&T went into the locker room down 31-24 at the half.
“Bethune had a great first half,” said Robinson. “I thought our depth was able to impact them as we started to separate ourselves in the fourth quarter to get the win.”
