ASHEVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina A&T women's basketball used two big Shareka McNeill plays and excellent free throw shooting down the stretch to earn their first-ever Big South road win with a 75-68 win over UNC Asheville at Kimmel Arena on Tuesday.
The Aggies trailed 63-62 with 2:57 remaining in the game. McNeill, who picked up her fourth foul earlier in the fourth quarter, converted a 3-point play with 2:33 remaining. Twenty-seven seconds later, McNeill netted a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 68-63 lead.
After a Bulldogs free throw, the Aggies iced the game with free throws. Graduate forward Chanin Scott to put the Aggies ahead 70-64 with 90 seconds remaining. Nadiria Evans hit a short jumper in the paint to cut N.C. A&T's lead to four.
But two more Scott free throws followed by two more freebies from sophomore guard Faith Blackstone gave the Aggies a 74-66 lead. Then, the Aggies put the game away with another free throw from McNeill.
McNeill continued her torrid shooting. She followed her 26-point performance against Winthrop on Saturday with 25 against the Bulldogs. She shot 9-for-17 from the field and 3-for-8 from three against on Tuesday. She also had four assists, four steals and three rebounds. She is 24-for-45 (.533) from the field and has made 12 3-pointers in her last three games.
Scott added 17 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field, with eight rebounds and two assists. Center Jazmin Harris added 12 points and eight rebounds. Blackstone recorded nine points.
A&T jumped out to an 11-6 lead with 4:21 left in the opening quarter, but the Bulldogs scored the next four points to cut the lead to 11-10. A jumper from Scott gave the Aggies a 13-10 lead at the end of the first.
The Aggies took a seven-point lead in the second quarter. The Bulldogs answered by putting together an 8-2 run to cut the Aggies lead to 24-23 with 5 ½ minutes remaining in the half. Scott's 3-pointer got the Aggies out of their funk, but UNCA scored the next eight points capped off by a 3-point play from Evans to take a 31-27 lead. But freshman guard Jordyn Dorsey followed a Scott miss as time expired in the first half to send the Aggies into the locker room down 31-29 at the half.
McNeill helped the Aggies regain a foothold in the third quarter as she scored eight points in the quarter, including five points in 33 seconds, to give the Aggies a 49-42 lead with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter. However, UNCA scored the final four points of the third quarter to go into the fourth quarter trailing 49-46.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 59 in the fourth before Aggies sophomore guard Sean Kelly Darks nailed a 3-pointer to give N.C. A&T the lead. Back-to-back Bulldog layups put UNCA ahead 63-62 before McNeill buckets, and the Aggies free throw shooting led to victory.
"For our first road victory, it was well earned," A&T coach Tarrell Robinson said. "UNC Asheville played very well in their gym as we expected. We overcame a lot of adversity and found a way as a team. I'm proud of my ladies tonight."
Evans led the Bulldogs with 24 points, shooting 9-for-14 from the field. Kai Carter recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
