EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T women's basketball may have looked too hard at S.C. State's 3-19 record overall and 2-7 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). 
But two days after beating the No. 1 team in the MEAC in Norfolk State, the Aggies held off S.C. State's upset attempt to defeat the Bulldogs 66-55 at Corbett Sports Center on Monday. 

"We need to bring the same energy that we brought Saturday against Norfolk State, which I don't think that we did," N.C. A&T coach Tarrell Robinson said.  "We have to take the same approach with whether we're playing the top team or the worst team in terms of rankings in our conference. You have to be happy with wins, but like I tell them, we have to win the right way.  
We missed a lot of shots and a lot of free throws."

Sophomore guard Jasmen Walton led the Aggies with 17 points and added five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor. Senior guard Cinia McCray added 15 points and six rebounds.  

McCray's 15 points gives her 955 career points, 45 points shy of 1,000. Senior guard Mikaya Wilson and junior forward Deja Winters each recorded 10 points and five rebounds. Wilson shot 3-for-5 from the floor and Winters was 4-for-9.

Zeleria Simpson gave the Aggies trouble early by hitting a 3-pointer to give S.C. State a 12-6 lead. The Aggies (15-6, 7-2 MEAC) scored the final six points of the first quarter to tie the game at 12 going into the second quarter. 

S.C. State grabbed the lead again in the second quarter at 17-16 but a 9-2 run that culminated with a transition 3-pointer by Winters to give the Aggies a 25-18 lead with 3:44 remaining in the first half. SCSU scored the next seven points to tie the game at 25 with 59 seconds left in the first half.  A Walton layup with 16 seconds left gave the Aggies a two-point lead, 27-25, at the half.

N.C. A&T came out of the locker room on fire. Sparked by 3-pointers from Winters and McCray, the Aggies took a 43-30 lead with 5:06 remaining in the third. Three 3-pointers, the last one made by Simpson got the Bulldogs back into the game as they went into the fourth quarter trailing by five, 48-43.    

SCSU eventually cut the Aggies lead to three, 51-48, with 8:14 to play. A 7-0 run capped off by a McCray jump shot gave the Aggies a 58-48 lead with 5:38 remaining. Walton scored three points during the run and assisted on the two baskets. The closest the Bulldogs got the rest of the way was seven points. 

The Bulldogs were led by Simpson with 17 points. The Aggies travel to Florida for two games this weekend with Bethune-Cookman Saturday at 2 p.m. in Daytona Beach and Florida A&M Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Tallahassee.