TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Championship teams are usually excellent road teams because they possess the resolve to withstand the long bus rides, antagonistic crowds and the many other inherent advantages their respective opponents have playing on their own home floor.
The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team is building a pretty good resume for being that sort of team. The Aggies improved to 6-1 on the road in conference play with a 70-66 win over Florida A&M Saturday evening at the Al Lawson Center. In the process, the Aggies (15-10, 11-3 MEAC) won their sixth straight and remain tied for first with Hampton in the MEAC standings.
Graduate forward and Memphis transfer Courtney Powell had her best game as an Aggie with 20 points and nine rebounds with seven of those boards coming on the offensive end. She was also 10-for-11 from the floor and added three steals. Graduate center Aprill McRae added 18 points and six boards, junior Dana Brown finished with 15 and sophomore Kala Green had six assists and no turnovers in 28 minutes of action.
“We didn't play great at (Morgan State), we won the game,” said head coach Tarrell Robinson. “We didn't play great here; we won the game. At the end of the season, when you're playing for a championship, the mail goal is getting the W and that's what we did.”
N.C. A&T defeated the Rattlers 80-51 two weeks ago in Greensboro. But these were not your two weeks ago Rattlers. The Aggies were not able to get any separation from the Rattlers until the fourth quarter. The Aggies opened the quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 57-46 lead. A steal and layup by Green ballooned that lead to 13, 61-48, with 5:26 to play. The Rattlers (15-3, 9-6 MEAC) scored the next 10 points capped off by an Olivia Antilla jumper with three minutes to play. Two minutes later an Alicia McCray steal and layup cut the lead to one at 63-62.
FAMU eventually tied the game at 66 with 28 seconds to play. But senior point Christina Carter would score in transition to give the Aggies a 68-66 lead with 17 seconds remaining.
The Rattlers had four players in score in double figures led by Khadejra Young and Antilla who had 18 apiece. The Aggies head to Bethune-Cookman for a 5:30 p.m., Monday tilt with a Wildcats team they beat in Greensboro on Feb. 15. It is also a Wildcats team that is only one game behind the Aggies in the standings.
“We won by 29 out our place,” said Robinson about the Florida A&M win at Corbett Sports Center. “When players have those type of results in games, it's hard to convince them that this team is really that good in their gym. I thought we started the game slow. We even finished it slow. We have to fix that and bounce back from that when we go to Daytona Beach. But again character wins. I think you'll see a different Lady Aggie basketball team on Monday.”
Hopefully the result remains the same – a road win.
