NORFOLK, Va. – The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team saw their season come to an end earlier than they have in eight years as the N.C. Central Eagles defeated the Aggies 56-54 Thursday afternoon at the 2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Championship Tournament. 

Elimination in the quarterfinals is the earliest the Aggies have been defeated since the 2012 conference tournament. It was the third time this season the Eagles beat the Aggies. Junior center Jayla Jones-Pack and senior guard Cinia McCray led the Aggies with 11 points apiece. All of Jones-Pack's points came in the second half. Ten of McCray's 11 came in the second half. 

After the Aggies lost, the MEAC decided to cancel the women's and men's tournaments. The Aggies, the tournament's No. 4 seed after going 11-5 in the MEAC, saw their season come to an end at 19-10.

The game served as the last collegiate contest for six successful Aggie seniors. McCray, Alexus Lessears, Le'on Hill, Shantell Bostick, Mikaya Wilson and C'coriea Foy saw their careers come to an end. N.C. A&T benefitted greatly from their careers after two MEAC regular-season championships, a MEAC tournament title, an NCAA appearance and a WNIT appearance. They also went 16-0 in the MEAC during the 2018-19 season. 

"I have a special appreciation to my seniors," said N.C. A&T coach Tarrell Robinson. "They gave me a great four years and they gave this program a great four years. I'm extremely excited for them and what the future holds for them once they leave this university. They gave this program everything they had."

That includes their performance on Thursday. The Aggies trailed by as many as six in the second half. But a Jones-Pack layup at the end of the third quarter got the Aggies to within one at 42-41. Ninety seconds into the fourth quarter, Jones-Pack gave the Aggies a 45-44 lead on a turnaround move in the post. It was the Aggies first lead since the 2:48 mark of the first quarter. 

NCCU guard Keiche White tied the game for the fifth time when she went backdoor and took a pass from Zaria Atkins to score on a layup to make it 49-49 with 5:26 to play.

McCray gave the Aggies the lead back with a free throw before White gave the Eagles the lead for good, 52-50, with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:22 remaining. 
NCCU's first-team All-MEAC selection Paulina Afriyie drove to the basket and scored on a layup to give the Eagles a 54-50 lead with 1:44 to play. 

The Aggies were not done, however. After a timeout, sophomore Jasmen Walton stole the Eagles in-bounds pass and went to the other end to score to cut the deficit to 54-52 with 64 seconds remaining. But NCCU's Anissa Rivera hit two free throws to ice the game. 

"I told my team in the locker room the better team won," said Robinson. "You don't play a team three times and lose to the three times and not give them their credit."

The Aggies will have two key seniors scheduled to return next season in Seton Hall transfers Deja Winters and Jones-Pack. Winters led the Aggies in scoring this season and Jones-Pack was second on the team in rebounding (6.7). Three junior guards are also scheduled to return in Kennedy Boyd, Jasmen Walton and Taya Jones. 

Plus, the Aggies had two freshmen on the roster who started earning playing time toward the end of the season with Shayla Nelson and Ya'Taria Coleman. 

The Aggies had their 2019-20 season hampered when Foy went out with a season-ending injury in February. 

"We dealt with a lot of adversity this year," said Robinson. "We lost the (MEAC) preseason player of the year in C'coriea Foy. We just had a lot of tough luck in our games this year in particular with injuries and health. But Central won three games against us and from a matchup standpoint their players stepped up and ours didn't."