GREENSBORO – A pure classic occurred in Corbett Sports Center Sunday afternoon between the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team and the defending Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) champions, Monmouth Hawks.
Unfortunately, clutch free throw and 3-point shooting benefited the Hawks in an 80-76 double-overtime win over the Aggies. Losing the suspenseful thriller knocks the Aggies down to second place with a 16-8 mark overall and a 10-3 record in conference play. Monmouth's win, their 10th straight on the road, makes the conference race a little more interesting as the Hawks improved to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in league play.
Monmouth's Kaci Donovan hit a last-second shot at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime before teammate Jania Hall connected on a three in the waning moments of the first overtime to help force another five minutes of play.
The Aggies, who came into the game having made more free throws than their opponents have combined to attempt during the season, had the tables turned on them on Sunday. The Hawks went 28-for-30 from the free throw line, while the Aggies made 8 of 15.
"They shot 28 of 30 from the foul line, on the road, they earned that victory," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "We had several times at the end of regulation and the first overtime, and the second overtime, we could have won the game."
The drama did start toward the end of regulation. Freshman forward Paris Locke, who had a career-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, cut to the basket and was rewarded with a pinpoint Maleia Bracone pass to give the Aggies a 56-51 lead with 42 seconds to play in the game. But Sandrine Clesca drew a foul and went to the free throw line to cut A&T's lead to three.
With only 32.7 seconds remaining and the Aggies nowhere near the bonus, Monmouth started to foul A&T to prevent the Aggies from running the clock out. After Monmouth fouled A&T on three straight occasions, A&T finally reached the bonus. Junior guard Jordyn Dorsey went to the line for two free throws, missing both and giving hope to a Hawks squad who once trailed by 16 in the first half.
Following a Monmouth timeout, the Aggies defense looked stellar as the clock ticked closer to zero. Finally, Donovan found enough room to launch her three that splashed through to send the game into overtime tied at 56.
In overtime, as the clock crept below a minute to play, Bracone threaded the needle with a slick bounce pass to a fast-breaking Locke, who finished with a layup to give the Aggies a 63-60 with 53.7 seconds remaining. The Aggies then forced a 3-point miss from Ariana Vanderhoop, but Hall swooped in and grabbed the offensive rebound. Seconds later, she spotted up wide-open from 3-point range and netted the jumper to tie the game at 63 with 21.8 seconds remaining in OT No. 1.
"The first one in regulation was a tough shot," Robinson said, referring to Monmouth's two clutch threes. "The one for the second overtime, that was on us. We got mixed up on our switches, but it was still a tough shot."
But the Aggies would get their second-chance opportunity as a missed Bracone 3-pointer landed in the hands of Locke, who was fouled after grabbing the rebound. Locke made one of two free throw attempts to give the Aggies a 64-63 lead with 14.6 seconds to play. Donovan answered by making one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining to tie the game at 64, eventually leading to another overtime.
Hall took advantage of a missed layup by A&T in the second overtime, sprinting down the court after Ella Farrelly's rebound and taking a pass from Clesca to score in transition. Bracone fouled her on the play as Hall completed the and-1 to give the Hawks a 74-70 lead with 1:04 to play. Hall, who went 11-for-11 from the line on Sunday, hit two more free throws 30 seconds later to extend Monmouth's lead to six.
But two clutch threes from the Aggies, one from Keona Curtis and the other from Bracone, helped the Aggies cut Monmouth's lead to 78-76 with 4.2 seconds remaining. But Vanderhoop hit two more free throws to seal the win for the Hawks.
"I'm proud of my young women. They played their butts off," said Robinson. "I never question their effort, but this was a tough loss. But for our process moving forward, this was a good loss for us to have."
Four Aggies scored in double figures as Bracone finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals. Chaniya Clark also had a big night with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Curtis added 10 points, and Dorsey had nine points, eight assists, and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds. She, however, failed to score in double figures for the first time in 12 games.
Hall scored 21 points off the bench for Monmouth. The Aggies will play again on Feb. 25 as they travel down the road to Elon University to play the Phoenix at 2 p.m. from the Schar Center.
