GREENSBORO (February 11, 2017) – North Carolina A&T is at its best when they are playing in-your face defense and sharing the basketball.
Both of those things occurred many times Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center as the Aggies snapped Florida A&M's five-game winning streak with a 65-57 win in women's basketball play. N.C. A&T held the Rattlers to 19 first-half points and 29.7 percent shooting for the game. In addition, 17 of the Aggies 24 field goals were assisted led by junior Kala Green's six.
The Aggies are 4-0 when they hold teams to under 35 percent shooting and 4-1 when they have 15 or more assists.
“We worked hard on guarding their stuff, and we were determined to play them man-to-man straight up,” said Robinson. “I thought we did an exceptional job of guarding them in the first half and that was not easy because they have talented upperclassmen.”
The win extends the Aggies winning streak over FAMU to seven. More importantly, the Aggies (10-13, 6-4 MEAC) put themselves back in the thick of a competitive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference race as jockeying for the regular-season title, first-round byes and overall positioning for next month's MEAC tournament in Norfolk, Va., begins to heat up. The Aggies are three games out of first and a game-and-half out of second.
“You can tell our ladies are starting to play with a sense of urgency,” said Robinson. “This is probably the biggest win we've had in conference. I'm so proud of our young women. Hopefully, we can use this to keep building, so we can keep having success.”
Graduate guard Aliyah Kilpatrick was able to clinch the win for the Aggies over FAMU. Kilpatrick scored the Aggies final nine points on her way to a season-high 20-point performance to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Her career high at Winthrop was 28.
“AK has a scorer's mentality. That's the type of player she is,” said Robinson.
FAMU (8-16, 6-5 MEAC) fell behind by 15, their largest deficit of the night, on a Kilpatrick free throw with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter. In an effort to rally, FAMU brought heavy pressure. Kilpatrick turned the ball over once in the midst of the intense pressure, prompting Robinson to give his veteran guard a message.
“If they're pressuring, it's time to play basketball,” Robinson remembers telling her. “From there she started to make plays. She got some shots for (Dana Brown). She got some shots for our post. I'm hoping she can continue to develop and start to understand what we need from her and when we need it from her.”
FAMU's pressure was somewhat successful as the Rattlers started digging into the Aggies double-digit lead. An Ecenur Yurdakul 3-pointer got the Rattlers to within six at 48-42 with 9:01 to play in the game. Two Dy'Manee Royal free throws got the lead to four before Kilpatrick hit a floater in the lane. Cedricka Sweeting kept the game close for FAMU with a baseline jumper that made it 50-46 with 7:50 to play. That is as close as FAMU would get the rest of the afternoon.
Junior Quenswayla Story answered with one of her many short-range jumpers from Saturday to push the lead out to six. Brown then took a pass from Green and netted a 3-pointer for a nine-point Aggies advantage. Kilpatrick took command from there. After a Royal jumper cut the lead to 55-48, Kilpatrick hit two free throws followed by a drive to the basket for a layup and a free throw to give the Aggies a 12-point lead with 3:42 to play. The Rattlers did get the Aggies lead down to six with 2:15 remaining. But they did not have an answer for Kilpatrick who once again drove to the basket for a layup before hitting a free throw to give N.C. A&T a nice cushion at 63-54 with 1:46 remaining.
Story was vital as well as she came off the bench to score 10 on 5-for-7 shooting. The Rattlers were led by Florence Quattara's 11 points. N.C. A&T returns to action on Monday as they welcome S.C. State to Corbett for a 5:30 p.m., tip.
