DELAND, Fla. – North Carolina A&T women's basketball traveled to Florida looking for some answers to halt a four-game losing streak. The Aggies flew out of Florida with many of those answers and two straight wins from Stetson University's Hatter Holiday Classic.
A day after defeating the host, the Stetson Hatters, the Aggies defeated an old Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rival in Bethune-Cookman, 66-47 at The J. Ollie Edmunds Center on Wednesday. The Aggies improved to 5-5 on the season with one remaining non-conference game on the schedule, a December 30 home game at Corbett Sports Center against Averrett University at 2 p.m. Bethune-Cookman fell to 8-4.
The Aggies three veteran standouts, seniors D'Mya Tucker, Maleia Bracone, and junior Jordyn Dorsey, combined for 53 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists on 16-for-28 shooting from the floor and 19-for-20 from the free throw line. Tucker led A&T with 20 points and six rebounds on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor.
Bracone finished with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals on 4-for-8 shooting from 3-point range and 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line. Bracone is nine points shy from scoring 1,000 points for her career. Bracone spent two seasons at Presbyterian College. Dorsey added 15 points, five rebounds and six assists on 11-for-12 shooting from the line. As a team, the Aggies went 24-for-26 from the line for the game (.923).
"We will not have the success that we anticipate having without our veterans," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson.
The Aggies started the game aggressively and on a mission. The Aggies went to the free throw line eight times in the first quarter, making all eight. Dorsey went 6-for-6 at the line during the first period as the Aggies grabbed a 19-9 lead. A Bracone 3-pointer to start the second quarter pushed the Aggies lead to 13.
But following Bracone's three, the Wildcats scored 16 straight points to take a 25-22 lead with three minutes remaining in the first half. A Dorsey free throw and a 3-pointer from Bracone put the Aggies in front again before a Kayla White layup provided the Wildcats with a 27-26 lead.
The Aggies took control of the half from there and never relinquished it throughout the game. A&T closed the half on a 7-0 run highlighted by a Tucker 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 33-27 halftime lead.
B-CU did get to within two in the third quarter, 36-34, but A&T responded by scoring nine straight points capped off by a Tucker steal, which allowed Sean Kelly Darks to score in transition off a pass from Bracone, giving A&T a 45-34 lead with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter. A&T grew that lead to 12 over the next 90 seconds before B-CU's Kerrighan Dunn hit a 3-pointer to send the Wildcats into the fourth quarter trailing 49-40.
A&T finished the game as they started it. The Aggies went 6-for-6 from the free throw line and 5-for-10 from the floor. They also had an incredible 16-4 rebounding advantage over the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. A&T opened the fourth on an 8-0 run to put the game away.
"We played like a team on both ends of the floor," said Robinson. "We shared the ball on offense and made the extra pass. On defense, we did a great job following the scout and executing the game plan. We held their leading scorer to single digits. Our problem has been those things consistently, and we were able to do it the last two games before our break. I'm super proud of this group."
B-CU leading scorer Chanel Wilson came into the game averaging 13.2 points per game. She had four points on 1-for-7 shooting on Wednesday. Dunn finished with 18 points and six rebounds on 7-for-15 shooting.
