GREENSBORO – Approximately a month after the original start date to the season, the young North Carolina A&T women's basketball finally stepped on the court for the first time this season and came up short against cross-town rival UNC Greensboro in a heartbreaking 49-46 loss Monday night at Fleming Gymnasium.

"It was a tale of two halves," N.C. A&T coach Tarrell Robinson said. "We got out to a good start. Obviously, when we are winning at halftime, you did some good things and I thought we did. We turned them over. We had 17 points off of turnovers and only two in the second half. We didn't have the same output in the second half. I told our young women that we can take it for what it is, lesson learned as being one of the youngest teams in the country and figure out moving forward on how to finish up these next two games."

The Aggies held their largest lead of the game at 26-20 with 4:29 remaining in the first half and led 32-16 at halftime. 

After a UNCG 3-pointer cut the lead to 11 points, 32-21, with 9:34 remaining in the third quarter, the Aggies scored the next four points to increase their lead to 36-21.  

The Spartans went on a 23-2 run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 38-35 with 2:21 remaining in the game. But N.C. A&T sophomore forward Shayla Nelson made a layup just before the third-quarter buzzer sounded to give the Aggies a 40-35 advantage.

UNCG scored the first six points of the final quarter to take a 41-40 lead with 7:58 remaining. It was the Spartans first lead since it was 3-2 at the 9:34 mark of the first quarter. 

UNCG's lead went to 48-44 before senior forward Deja Winters scored on a putback to get the Aggies to within two at 48-46 with 56 seconds to play. 

Senior forward Jayla Jones-Pack then made one of six blocks on the night leading eventually to a Jasmen Walton rebound with 13 seconds remaining. Freshman Sean Kelly Darks tried to give the Aggies the lead with a 3-pointer but had her shot bounce out. Graduate guard Chanin Scott grabbed the offensive rebound, but she fell out of bounds giving the Spartans possession and the game. 

After the third Aggie foul to put the Spartans on the line, UNCG missed the first one to keep the game at a one-possession game but made the second one for a three-point lead.  

Scott, who transferred out of Georgia Tech, finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. In addition to her shot-blocking, Jones-Pack added four points and four rebounds. 

"I always tell Jayla that if she can stay out of foul trouble, she's a double-double shot-blocking machine and obviously today she wasn't able to stay out of foul trouble," Robinson said. "She ends up getting the bad end of a teammate's break down defensively. She's our interior threat and we got to take care of our business guarding the ball, so we can keep her on the floor."

Freshman D'Mya Tucker capped a 6-0 run to end the first quarter for the Aggies as they led 11-5. 

Jones-Pack started the second quarter with a layup for an eight-point lead before the Spartans finally ended the run with a 3-pointer. The Aggies then exploded offensively with a 13-2 spurt to go ahead 26-10 in the second. Despite the loss, Robinson saw some things he liked from his young squad. 

"D'Mya Tucker really surprised me," Robinson said. "I thought she came to play. She did a lot of little things, crashing the boards, get out in transition. It was very impressive. Sean Kelly Darks was competing defensively, played hard and hit a couple of big shots. I'm excited about the future."

The Spartans were led by Cece Crudup with 16 points and eight rebounds and Tori Powell with 12 points and four rebounds. The Aggies host Queens University Thursday in Corbett Sports Center at 2 p.m., for their home opener and hosts Elon Sunday at 2 p.m., in the final non-conference games of the season.