BUIES CREEK – North Carolina A&T took care of the basketball, shot lights out after the first quarter, and earned a 73-51 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) women's basketball win on the road against the Campbell Fighting Camels at Pope Arena Friday night. The win moves A&T (11-6, 5-1 CAA) into a first-place tie in the CAA with the Stony Brook Seawolves.
The Aggies have won five straight and eight of their last nine. A&T turned the ball over only twice on Friday, the lowest amount in program history. On the flip side, the Camels turned the ball over 23 times, which allowed the Aggies to outscore the Camels 21-0 in points off turnovers. A&T also dominated in the paint, outscoring Campbell 38-18.
Junior Jordyn Dorsey and senior D'Mya Tucker took turns dominating the game. Dorsey scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the first half. Meanwhile, Tucker scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half, making 6 of 7 shots over the final 20 minutes of action.
"Jordyn Dorsey had a super game. D'Mya Tucker woke up in the second half and had an awesome second half," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "And that's the way it works. If it's not Maleia (Bracone), it's Jordyn; if it's not Jordyn, it's D'Mya; if it's not D'Mya, it's Shaq (Chaniya Clarke). This team is very selfless, and they are hungry for a championship."
Campbell's first three makes from the field were 3-pointers as Brittany Staves' three tied the game at 11 halfway through the first. A&T scored the next four points before Shy Tuelle scored inside to send the Camels into the second quarter trailing 15-13. Tuelle's bucket would be a part of a 7-0 Campbell run as Tuelle netted a three, and Gemma Nunez scored going to the basket to give the Camels an 18-15 lead with 8:09 remaining in the first half.
It would be all A&T, however, over the final eight minutes of the first half. The Aggies scored eight straight points before a Gianna Boone and-1 cut A&T's lead to 23-21 with 3 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. Not deterred, the Aggies went on a 9-0 run, ending with Laila Acox taking a pass from Bracone and scoring on a short jumper from the elbow before a Bracone steal led to a no-look Bracone pass to Acox to give the Aggies a 32-21 lead with 44 seconds remaining.
Staves ended the run with a layup before Dorsey completed her brilliant first half with a runner in the lane to give A&T a 34-23 halftime lead.
"I just wanted to be aggressive," said Dorsey. "There were mismatches all over the floor for everybody on our team. I think being aggressive opened up more passing lanes for everyone else to get involved because of the ball movement."
Campbell flirted with keeping A&T's lead under double figures over the first three minutes of the third quarter. Christabel Ezumah's layup got the Camels to within nine at 38-29. But over the next 6 ½ minutes of the third quarter, A&T outscored Campbell 14-6. The spurt was highlighted by Tucker putting the ball on the floor, driving to the elbow, and pulling up for a fadeaway jumper as Staves fouled her. Tucker completed the 3-point play to give the Aggies a 52-35 with 30 seconds remaining in the period.
Tucker opened the fourth quarter by scoring A&T's first five points before freshman Paris Locke connected on a three to give A&T a 60-43 lead with 7:02 remaining in the game. A&T would lead by as many as 23 in the fourth quarter as Tucker had 11 fourth-quarter points.
"I just got really excited because I didn't have a great first half," Tucker said about her and-1. "I definitely got a lot of energy out of hitting that shot. Before we came in for halftime, coach Rob said I needed to be more aggressive when the ball was in my hand because they couldn't guard me. I'm able to jump over my opponents and see the goal, so I should be more aggressive."
Tueulle led the Camels with 11 points. After the first quarter, the Aggies were 23-for-44 (.523) from the floor. A&T will head home on Sunday to face the Elon Phoenix at 2 p.m. at Corbett Sports Center.
"You know I love in-state wins against some of our in-state rivals, so I'm really proud of this group for being locked in," said Robinson. "We just want to be consistent and keep getting better. I don't think we've yet reached our best basketball."
