EAST GREENSBORO – Sophomore Jordyn Dorsey tortured College of Charleston with mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper, and the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team played terrific defense down the stretch to lead the Aggies to a 76-71 win Sunday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center.
The Aggies remain in first place by one game after second-place teams Drexel and Stony Brook won on Sunday. The Aggies are 14-6 overall and 8-1 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. Charleston (8-11, 3-6 CAA) lost its third straight game.
Dorsey tied a career with 21 points and added four assists on 7-for-10 shooting from the field, 2-for-3 shooting from three and 5-for-7 from the free throw line. Sixteen of Dorsey's 21 points came in the second half. In addition, she was so active on both ends of the floor that she drew eight fouls, three more than any other player who played on Sunday.
"She is one of the best point guards in this league," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson about Dorsey. "What else can you say? I hope she continues to play like she played today, but I'm not surprised, and her teammates are not surprised. We see that from her all the time in practice."
Despite Dorsey's outstanding second half, the foundation of the North Carolina A&T women's program, defense, had to come through for the Aggies to remain in sole possession of first place in the CAA.
A&T trailed 71-66 with 2:55 remaining in the game. Twenty seconds later, junior guard Maleia Bracone drove to the basket and dropped off a pass to graduate center Jazmin Harris. Harris scored from very close range to pull the Aggies to within three. The Aggies then came after Charleston guard Jaila Roberts, forcing her into a turnover that turned into a D'Mya Tucker layup to pull the Aggies to within one at 71-70 with 2:12 to play.
Charleston called timeout, which benefited the Aggies. A&T's pressure forced a 10-second violation as the Cougars could not get the ball past halfcourt in time. A&T took that possession and got another bucket on a Bracone to Harris connection to give the Aggies their first lead of the fourth quarter at 72-71 with 1:41 to play.
Bracone then trapped Jazmyn Stone near the scorer's table, swiped at the basketball, and deflected the ball off Stone's leg for another Charleston turnover. Harris, who secured her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, scored again to give the Aggies a 74-71 lead. Two late free throws helped the Aggies finish the game on a 10-0.
"We feed off of making stops," said Dorsey. "Once we get one stop, we've got to keep getting stops over and over. We like to feed off of their mistakes. That's how you finish the game off right. Everybody came together in the end. Everybody played their role so that we could get a great win."
Harris shares the league lead in double-doubles and has scored double figures in 11 straight games. Tucker added 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. She has scored double figures in seven consecutive games.
The Aggies led 35-32 at the half. But 3 1/2 minutes into the second half, the Cougars started an 11-0 run that gave Charleston a 50-43 lead with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter. But Tucker hit a three before 6-foot-4 center Chaniya Clark, affectionally nicknamed "Baby Shaq," hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to ignite the crowd and the Aggies bench.
Minutes later, back-to-back threes from Bracone and Dorsey gave A&T a 57-54 lead before Roberts tied the game at 57 going into the fourth quarter. Roberts led the Cougars with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Robinson and his first-place Aggies head 25 miles East to face the Elon Phoenix at the Schar Center at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3.
"We're going to get people's best game. We're now the hunted, and we've got to respond and show up every night, every possession," said Robinson. "College of Charleston had a great game plan. They probably would have won the game if my young women didn't respond as they did. But the foundation of our program is defense. Defense won us this game today."
