GREENSBORO (January 9, 2016) – Maryland Eastern Shore put together a 3-point shooting display late against the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team to leave Corbett Sports Center Monday afternoon with a 60-57 win. The Aggies (5-11, 1-2 MEAC) split their first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference home stand after beating Delaware State on Saturday. But they nearly took both games after overcoming a double-digit second-half deficit.
Fifth-year guard Dana Brown led the Aggies with 13 points. Junior Michelle Fitzgerald added nine points and eight rebounds. Winston-Salem native Ciana Byrom had nine points for MDES but left the game early with an injury. Alexus Hicks came off the bench to score 15 points and Mariah McCoy finished with 11.
Byrom, the Hawks leading scorer, left the game with 5:54 remaining in the third quarter with the Hawks (7-5, 1-0 MEAC) leading 35-29. The Hawks increased that lead to 41-30 even with Byrom down. But the Aggies got the lead down to three, 43-40, by the end of the quarter. Four minutes into the fourth quarter, the Aggies captured the lead as Brown hit a jumper followed by a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 49-48 lead.
The Aggies increased that lead to 54-50 with 3:58 left on an Aliyah Kilpatrick jumper, her only field goal of the game. In a quick turn of events, back-to-back 3-pointers by Alexus Hicks and Mariah McCoy put the Hawks back on top 56-54. With the crowd roaring, junior Quenswayla Story picked up her ninth point of the game on a layup to tie the game at 56, but another 3-pointer by Hicks gave the Hawks a 59-57 lead with 1:35 to play. The Hawks clinched the game when McCoy stole the ball from Fitzgerald with 35 seconds remaining.
“We will bounce back from this,” said N.C. A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. “Losses like this build character and it's a long season. This is supposed to hurt. We were picked to win our league, and I think our ladies think they are good enough. We just need to understand what it takes to be champions.”
Robinson turned to his freshman in the first half after MDES turned a five-point first-quarter deficit into a 23-15 lead with 4:21 remaining in the first half. They delivered 10 points, six of which came from McCray's shots from beyond the arc. Fitzgerald scored on back-to-back possessions, the latter being a 3-point play to cut the Hawks lead to 23-20. The Hawks scored the next five points before McCray's three cut the lead to 28-23. Freshman Shantelle Bostick closed the first half by driving the ball to the basket and scoring for a 33-27 N.C. A&T halftime deficit.
“A couple people got in foul trouble early, and I had to go to our bench,” said Robinson. “Our bench responded again today. Cinia McCray and Shantell Bostick came in and gave us a lift, and when we went to go back to our vets they couldn't quite get us over the hump. This was their opportunity to influence the game, and I thought they kept the game within reach going into halftime.”
The Aggies head on the road next for a two-game stint in Baltimore against Coppin State (2-12, 2-0 MEAC) on Jan. 14 at 2 p.m., and Morgan State (2-13, 0-2 MEAC) on Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
