ELON, N.C. – North Carolina A&T women's basketball coach Tarrell Robinson called 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore center Chaniya "Shaq" Clark one of the best shooters on the team. Aggies junior point guard Jordyn Dorsey agreed.
For purposes of figuring out why the Aggies were able to tie Sunday's game against Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) preseason favorite Towson with a clutch Clark 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds remaining and eventually dominate the Tigers in overtime for a 62-52 win at Corbett Sports Center, no one will argue with Robinson's and Dorsey's conclusions.
A&T ran a pick-and-pop play that sprung Clark open from the top of the key. She took a pass from senior guard Maleia Bracone, set her feet and netted the three to tie the game at 46. Towson's Patricia Anumbgba tried to win the game at the buzzer, but her baseline jumper came up short, sending the game into overtime.
"I knew two things," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson about drawing up the play that tied and sent the game into overtime. "I knew they wanted to guard (Maleia) Bracone, and I knew if Shaq had time, she was going to knock down that shot. She knocks those shots down on the regular. I spend time with her at 8 a.m., with her shooting those shots and knocking down those shots. That's why I had confidence she would knock that shot down."
Robinson's confidence must have been contagious because his team played with supreme confidence in OT. Bracone opened the overtime with a three and, seconds later, found senior guard D'Mya Tucker on the break for a layup that resulted in an and-one that gave the Aggies a 52-47 lead 90 seconds into the OT. A minute later, freshman forward Paris Locke got into the act by driving to the basket, scoring, getting fouled and finishing the 3-point play. Bracone closed out A&T's 10-1 run to start overtime with a free throw, giving the Aggies a 56-47 with 1:39 to play.
"The game of basketball is an emotional roller coaster, and going back to before Shaq's shot, I felt Towson thought the game was over. Shaq hits that shot, and they're like, dang, 'Now we have to dig in some more.' We got energy and were uplifted and wanted to finish the game."
CAA preseason player of the year Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, who finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and four steals on 4-for-10 shooting from 3-point range, did connect on a deep three to cut A&T's lead to six. But the Aggies hit 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch to clinch the win. The win takes away the sting from the Aggies close loss to College of Charleston on Friday, evening the A&T's CAA record at 1-1 and improving its overall record to 7-6. Towson dropped to 8-4 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Three Aggies reached double-figures, led by Dorsey's 14-point, seven-rebound, three-assist performance. Bracone added 11, and Tucker finished with 10. Locke had a season-high 10 rebounds.
"Today was an opportunity to prove everybody wrong," said Dorsey. "Yes, Friday was a game we lost, but we knew that wasn't our best basketball. We know what our best looks like and what we have to offer. We came into this game knowing what we wanted to do. We stuck to our game plan, stuck to our system, and got the win."
The two teams played to a 10-10 tie in the first quarter before the Aggies opened the second on a 9-0 that included a Clark 18-footer. However, Towson would end the half on a 12-0 run to take a 22-19 lead into the locker room. Two Anumgba free throws gave the Tigers a 33-32 lead going into the fourth quarter.
A&T trailed 42-36 after an Anumgba jump shot before the Aggies scored the next five points to cut Towson's lead to one. Two Kornegay-Lucas free throws pushed the lead back to three before Bracone weaved her way through the Tigers defense with two nifty crossover dribbles and scored to bring A&T to within one, 44-43, with 1:27 to play. But Aminata Diakite took a pass from Kornegay-Lucas and scored a crucial basket to put the Tigers ahead by three with 40 seconds to play.
A five-second violation gave the Tigers the ball back, which led to Bracone fouling Alexia Nelson with 33 seconds remaining. Nelson missed both free throws, which opened the opportunity for Clark's late-game heroics.
"I knew when Maleia threw me the ball, and I took my time, I knew it was going in," said Clark.
