BUIES CREEK, N.C. – North Carolina A&T women's basketball is officially fully involved in the Big South Conference chase for the regular-season title.
The Aggies used a big fourth-quarter fueled by center Jazmin Harris (McLeansville, N.C.) to down the top team in the Big South, Campbell, 76-61 Monday night at Gilbert Craig Gore Arena.
A&T (9-10, 6-3 Big South) won its straight game, and they stand a game-and-half out of first place currently occupied by Campbell (14-5, 8-2 Big South) and Longwood (11-10, 8-2).
"This win was a huge confidence boost for our ladies," A&T coach Tarrell Robinson said. "I can't say enough how proud of this team's effort.
So many plays made by so many people tonight. Campbell has been the standard so far this year in the Big South, so winning in their gym is something to be proud of."
Campbell's Taya Bolden hit two free throws at the end of the third quarter to tie the game at 49, heading into the fourth. A Bolden layup a minute into the fourth quarter gave the Camels a 54-51 lead.
The Aggies used a 7-2 run capped by a Harris layup to take a 58-56 lead. Two Faith Price free throws tied the game for Campbell before the Aggies took the game over from there.
A&T scored the next 11 points, including a Faith Blackstone 3-pointer. The spurt ended with a Shareka McNeill steal that turned into a Chanin Scott layup for a 69-58 A&T advantage with 2:26 remaining. The closest the Camels got from there was eight points. Harris pushed the lead back to double figures, 71-6-1, on a layup with 1:36 to play.
Harris scored 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. She was 7-for-11 from the floor and had nine rebounds.
The Aggies outscored the Camels 27-12 in the final period. It's the second consecutive game the Aggies used a late run to win. On Saturday, A&T used a 27-9 run in the fourth to win by two at Gardner-Webb.
Scott recorded her sixth double-double this season and the 10th of her A&T career with 20 points and 10 assists on 8-for-10 shooting.
McNeill scored 11 and graduate Kiana Adderton added 10. Senior Jasmen Walton added eight points, six assists and two steals.
There were 10 lead changes in the first quarter before a Christabel Ezumah put-back gave Campbell a 19-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A Kiana Adderton 3-pointer in the second quarter gave the Aggies a 23-19 lead. But an 11-2 Campbell run gave the Camels a 30-25 lead with 2:44 remaining in the first half. The Camels then hit three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 36-29 halftime lead.
Adderton led the Aggies with seven second-quarter points.
A&T shot 53.7 percent from the floor Monday night to mark the third straight game they shot better than 50 percent. A&T held Campbell to 30 percent shooting in the second half, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range.
Bolden led Campbell with 13 points and nine rebounds.
