MANHATTAN, Kanas – The positive about playing a demanding non-conference schedule for the North Carolina A&T Aggies women's basketball team is that their deficiencies will be shown long before the Big South Conference schedule begins at the end of December. 

The Aggies dropped to 0-2 on the season Friday with an 86-76 loss to Western Kentucky during the Aggies first game of the preseason WNIT at Kansas State's Bramlage Coliseum. Three nights after turning the ball over 31 times at the University of North Carolina, the Aggies posted 29 turnovers against the Hilltoppers. 

The Lady Toppers had 33 turnovers of their own, but WKU took advantage of the A&T's turnovers, outscoring the Aggies 32-14 in points off turnovers. Tuesday night at UNC, the Tar Heels outscored the Aggies 42-8 in points off turnovers. 

For Aggies head coach Tarrell Robinson those numbers stuck out like a "sore thumb." 

"Getting that 30 turnovers per game average down is the most important thing for us right now," said Robinson. "If we do that, I'm sure we'll begin to get the results we want."

Point guard Shareka McNeill (5-foot-5, R-JR, Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to lead the Aggies with 18 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the field. Forward Chanin Scott (6-0, GR, Charlotte, N.C.) overcame a scoreless debut at Chapel Hill to score 17 points and grab 10 rebounds on 6-for-14 shooting. Seven of Scott's 10 boards came on the offensive end. 

The Toppers led by 18, 62-44, with 3 ½ minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, A&T outscored the Toppers 9-2 to end the quarter, as Scott grabbed a defensive rebound and took it the distance to score in transition to end quarter No. 3. 

A&T's run continued into the fourth quarter as the Aggies answered a Meral Abdelgawad bucket to open the fourth quarter for WKU with a 3-pointer by Scott to cut the Toppers lead to 66-56. Guard Jordan Dorsey (5-9, FR, Augusta, Ga.) got the lead under double-figures with a transition layup. Point guard Sean Kelly Darks (5-8, SO, Cincinnati, Ohio) got the lead down to six, 66-60, with 7:44 remaining in the game. 

"We found something that was working defensively with the combination of individuals that could execute to give us opportunities to score in transition and cut the lead." 

Unfortunately, the Aggies never cut into the lead further. The Toppers scored five straight points as a Mya Meredith 3-pointer pushed the Toppers lead back to double-figures at 71-60 with 5:56 to play. 

Guard Jasmen Walton (5-11, SR, Baltimore, Md.), who did not play Tuesday night, scored to get the deficit down to nine. But the Aggies could not get any closer until Darks hit two free throws with 59 seconds remaining to make it an 81-74 game in favor of WKU. 

Macey Blevins' 3-pointer iced the game for the Toppers, who improved to 1-1 on the young season. 

Meredith led the Toppers with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. 

Two Scott free throws at the end of the first quarter sent the Aggies into the second period trailing 17-15. But an 11-0 Toppers run to open the second quarter was a part of a 32-point quarter that helped WKU take a double-figure lead into the second half.