GREENSBORO – Delaware tried everything possible to pull off a road win against the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team Sunday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center. The Blue Hens put together a 28-point second quarter, shot 63 percent in the first half, knocked down nine 3-pointers, and had a vital 3-pointer late in the game.
But the Aggies refused to give in or break, defeating the Blue Hens 65-62 to win their fourth straight win. A&T has also won seven of eight to improve to 10-6 overall and 4-1 in Coastal Atheltic Association (CAA) play. After the Stony Brook Seawolves' 75-73 loss to Campbell on Sunday, the Aggies are a half-game out of first place behind the Seawolves. Delaware dropped to 6-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
"(A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson) talks a lot about which team is going to break first," said A&T junior point guard Jordyn Dorsey. "As long as we stay disciplined and stay true to who we are, knowing the game plan, knowing how we are going to get the win, and they break first, we'll win every time. We are playing like every game matters. As long as we control our destiny and stay in the driver's seat, we'll get the job done."
The Blue Hens did make the Aggies bend a bit. They shot 12-for-17 (.706) in the second quarter, including a 4-for-5 showing from 3-point range to score 28 second-quarter points. Delaware used a 12-4 spurt capped by a Chloe Wilson layup to give the Blue Hens a 41-31 halftime lead.
A&T used the next 10 minutes of action in the third quarter to flip the script on the Blue Hens. After knocking down five first-half 3-pointers, the Blue Hens scored only three points in the third quarter, making only one of their 11 field goal attempts. The Aggies used their defense to methodically erase the Blue Hens advantage, finally taking the lead, 45-44, on a Dorsey 3-pointer off a pass from Chaniya Clark with two seconds remaining in the period.
"We talk about knowing the how-to but also knowing the when-to," said Robinson. "We are pushing in transition, but every transition doesn't mean we have to shoot the ball quick. That's what they want us to do. That's what we want our opponents to do. We settled down, played some great Lady Aggie defense, and then finished the game like we were supposed to.
That was by far – with this group over the last two years – the best quarter of execution as far as following the game plan to get back into the game. We have a lot of room to improve, but that third quarter was so huge for us."
Clark opened the fourth quarter with two free throws, and senior guard Maleia Bracone had one of her five steals on the day, turning it into a transition layup to complete A&T's 14-0 run to put the Aggies ahead 49-44. A&T took a 59-51 lead as Clark followed a Bracone missed layup with 3:52 remaining. But Nakiyah Mays-Prince netted a 3-pointer before Wilson took advantage of an A&T turnover to score on a layup. She was fouled on the play and completed the 3-point play to cut A&T's advantage to 59-57 with 2:49 to play.
An Ande'a Cherisier layup followed two Clark free throws to keep A&T's lead at two. Dorsey then stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down both shots to give the Aggies a 63-59 lead with 10.8 seconds remaining. But Delaware's Syndey Boone penetrated into the lane, drawing in the Aggies defense before turning around and finding a wide-open Rebecca Demeke for a 3-pointer that cut got the Blue Hens to within one, 63-62 with 5.2 seconds remaining.
But Delaware fouled Dorsey, sending her to the line, where she connected on two more free throws to put A&T ahead by three before a last-second 3-point attempt from Boone went wide left.
"How about them, Lady Aggies?" said Robinson. "Down 10 at the half to a really hot-shooting Delaware team, and we still got the win. They had players on our scouting report we said were not shooters that were knocking down shots and players we said were shooters knocking down shots. But we trust what we do. We trust what we work on. We have a very resilient team. We had a very resilient effort, and we are steadily climbing that ladder."
Dorsey led the way with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. Bracone had 14 points and four boards, and D'Mya Tucker posted 15 points and four rebounds. Grace Soundback led the Blue Hens with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
A&T will travel to Buies Creek on Friday to play a Campbell team that just beat the No. 1 team in the conference in Stony Brook. Game time is 7 p.m.
