GREENSBORO (February 25, 2017) – The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team's underclassmen wanted to send their three senior teammates – Aliyah Kilpatrick, Dana Brown and Whitney Martin – out with nice memories from Senior Day 2017. An 89-54 win over Savannah State on Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center will certainly bring about some nostalgia in later years.
Three underclassmen, all freshmen, led the way. Alexus Lessears continued her terrific play with 19 points and 14 rebounds on 9-for-10 shooting. It marked the fourth straight game she has reached double-figures in rebounds and she has recorded a double-double in three out of her last four games. The freshman backcourt duo of Shantelle Bostick and Cinia McCray came off the bench to do their part as Bostick finished with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting in what was her best scoring output in conference play this season. McCray added 11 points to help the Aggies improve to 12-15 overall and 8-6 in MEAC play.
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Junior Michelle Fitzgerald joined in on the underclassman fun with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
“(Before the game) we talked about what today represented. This is the day to send our seniors off the right way,” said Robinson. “If you really love these young women, your focus, energy and effort will show on the court because no senior wants to end their Senior Day with a loss.”
Robinson's seniors didn't exactly rest on their laurels while their teammates did all the work. Kilpatrick, a graduate transfer with an undergraduate degree from Winthrop, finished with 13 points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists. Brown, a fifth-year guard who transferred to Aggieland from UNC Wilmington after her freshman season, scored in double figures for the first time in four games as she posted 18 points, six assists and no turnovers while knocking down four of her 10 3-point attempts. Martin, the only women's player honored on Saturday who has been with the Aggies all four years, finished with six points, two rebounds and three assists.
Outside of all the numbers, what is truly special about Robinson's honorees on Saturday, is that all three already have their undergraduate degrees.
“These young ladies are getting ready to go out into the real world, and I'm proud of them,” Robinson said. “I talked to them about getting us off to a fast start and finishing strong.”
N.C. A&T scored 22 points in the first quarter on 47.4 percent shooting from the floor. The Tigers (10-17, 7-7 MEAC) nearly matched that fast start, however. They scored 19 points on 50 percent shooting in the first quarter behind 17 points from Kenyata Hendrix. The Aggies offense never slowed down, however. They shot better than 50 percent in each of the final three quarters including going 12-for-17 from the floor (71.6 percent) in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile the Tigers did slow down. After scoring 23 points in the first half, Hendrix only had two in the second half. The Tigers shot 19.4 percent in the second half. After two Brown free throws gave the Aggies a 41-33 halftime lead, the Aggies opened the second half on a 13-3 run to take a 54-36 lead as Brown knocked down two threes during the run.
SSU's Jeremica Edwards broke up the run a bit with a short jumper, but the Aggies grew their lead to 20, 58-38, on a Bostick layup and a Lessears tip-in. Junior Kala Green ended the third quarter by finding redshirt freshman Channing James underneath the basket for an easy layup and a 62-42 advantage. The Tigers never got the lead under 20 again.
As the MEAC tournament approaches the Aggies will get a welcomed test on Monday when the MEAC's No. 1 team, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (17-9, 13-1 MEAC), comes to Corbett to play a 5:30 p.m., game. The regular season ends on Thursday as the Aggies face rival North Carolina Central at 5:30 p.m., at Corbett. Many of the tiebreakers are lining up against the defending MEAC champion Aggies at this point in the season, so they may to win four games instead of three to win the title this season.
“Our freshmen are growing, I like where they're going,” said Robinson. “The season's not over yet. Where we finish is where we finish. We're still going into the tournament looking to win a championship.”
