EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team received a humungous confidence boost Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center as it defeated the top team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in Norfolk State 53-39.
 
The Spartans (12-7, 6-1 MEAC) undefeated in the conference while the Aggies (14-6, 6-2 MEAC) came in losers of two of their last three games and still smarting from not having MEAC preseason player of the year C'coriea Foy in the lineup.
 
When it was over, the Aggies held the conference's leading scorer Chanette Hicks (21.9 points per game) to just eight points and the conference's second-best scoring team (68.0 ppg) to just 39 points and 29.6 percent shooting.
 
In the process, there seemed to be a level of comfortableness surrounding the Aggies play that has not been there since Foy left the lineup two weeks ago.
 
"I hope this game brings us some confidence," said N.C. A&T coach Tarrell Robinson. "We just beat a team that previously undefeated in our conference without a key piece to our puzzle. We need different players to keep stepping up to fill that large void."
 
Junior center Jayla Jones-Pack stepped forward in a big way with 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Jasmen Walton had 10 points and no turnovers in 22 minutes of action and despite an off shooting night, senior Cinia McCray had 11 points including the making of two huge plays down the stretch.
 
Despite the Spartans status as the No. 1 team in the conference, they only held the lead for 12 seconds on Saturday. It was a Walten layup that gave the Aggies a double-figure lead at 36-26 with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter. After senior forward found a wide-open Walton for a jump shot the Aggies grew their lead to 12. Walton added a free throw to send the Aggies into the fourth quarter with an impressive 39-28 lead.
 
Over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, the Spartans began to put dents in the Aggies lead. A Blair Thomas 3-pointer made it a 39-33 ballgame. After a Jones-Pack layup, Hicks and Makaela Jones hit back-to-back baskets to cut the Aggies lead to 41-37 with 5:27 to play. But McCray had a couple of answers for the Spartans run. With 5:03 to play, McCray grabbed an offensive rebound and amongst a crowd of NSU defenders, she scored on a tough layup and was fouled. McCray completed the 3-point play to give N.C. A&T a 44-37 lead.
 
With 1:41 to play, McCray picked up a loose ball and fired it toward the basket. She swished the 3-point jumper to give the Aggies a convincing 51-39 advantage.
 
 "It feels good because this what we do – play Aggie basketball," said Jones-Pack. "We were No. 1 last year, so we're trying to get that spot back again this year."
 
N.C. A&T is still looking up at Norfolk State and Bethune-Cookman in the standings. The Aggies have another game against Bethune-Cookman this season after losing to the Wildcats at Corbett. The Aggies got the key win over Norfolk State thanks to playing in front of their largest home crowd of the season at 2,453.
 
"Our fans really brought it today," said Robinson. "They really played the role of the sixth man and it created a lot of energy for us. They were big."
 
NSU scored the final four points of the first quarter to open the second quarter trailing 13-12. It was a 17-17 ballgame in the second quarter when Hicks picked up her second foul at the 5:17 mark. Hicks picked up her third foul with 3:15 remaining in the first half. By that time the Aggies had grown their lead to 25-19 before going into the half leading 25-21.
 
 
"Defense is the staple of our program. To hold the league's leading scorer to eight points after she was averaging almost 22 points shows that we were able to be who we are," said Robinson. "It was a team effort, no one person can contain her.
 
We planned to double team her and get her out of her comfort zone. Plus, she got in early foul trouble which took her out of her rhythm. We took advantage of that."
 
Thomas led the Spartans with 10 points. N.C. A&T will complete their four-game homestand with a 5:30 p.m., Monday game against S.C. State at Corbett Sports Center.