GREENSBORO – Ten games into the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) schedule, and there has been only one CAA team capable of beating the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team. College of Charleston.
The Cougars took advantage of 21 A&T turnovers and ended the Aggies eight-game winning streak with a 66-62 win at TD Arena on Friday. The Aggies, who entered the game ranked 24th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, dropped to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in CAA play.
A&T's only two conference losses have come against Charleston after the Cougars defeated the Aggies in Corbett Sports Center in early January. However, the Aggies are still in a first-place tie after Stony Brook lost to Towson in overtime on Friday.
Charleston outscored A&T 27-10 in points off turnovers. Late in the game, that advantage for Charleston was highlighted. An Aggies turnover with two minutes remaining in the game led to an Anika McGarity layup, cutting the Aggies lead to 58-57. But a minute later, it appeared sophomore Chaniya Clark knocked down the shot to give A&T sole possession of first place.
Clark stepped out beyond the arc, took a pass from Jordyn Dorsey, and splashed a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 61-57 lead, leading to the Cougars calling timeout. Out of the timeout, Jenna Annecchiarico scored on a layup before an Aggies turnover led to a McGarity 3-pointer that wiped away A&T's four-point, giving the Cougars a 62-61 lead with 30 seconds remaining.
Another Aggies turnover led to two Jada Logan free throws to extend the Cougars lead to three. Dorsey had a chance to tie the game but misfired on her 3-pointer. Clark grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. She made one of two free throws to cut Charleston's lead to 64-62 with six seconds remaining.
After a Charleston timeout, A&T freshman Paris Locke fouled and sent Taryn Barbot to the line. Barbot sealed the win by knocking down both free throws. Anneccheriarico led the Cougars with 20 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three steals on four made 3-pointers.
Maleia Bracone led four Aggies in double figures with 13 points and three steals on 6-for-13 shooting. Clark and senior D'Mya Tucker had 12 points each, and Jordyn Dorsey added 11 points and six rebounds.
The Aggies held a 28-22 lead at halftime after holding the Cougars to 21.9 percent shooting in the first half. The Aggies put together a 9-1 run to open the second half, culminating in a Dorsey 3-pointer and a Bracone layup to give the Aggies their biggest lead of the night, 37-23, 2 1/2 minutes into the second half.
But the Cougars did something that teams rarely do against A&T. They caught fire. The Cougars shot 7-for-12 (.583) over the remaining 7 1/2 minutes of the quarter. Over the final three minutes of the third quarter, the Cougars went on a 9-2 run to head into the fourth quarter trailing 46-44.
The Aggies opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point play from Tucker to take a five-point advantage before the Cougars scored the next five points to tie the game at 49-49. It marked the first of four ties in the quarter before the final two minutes of regulation. A&T will travel to Drexel, the defending CAA co-regular-season champions, for a Sunday contest starting at 1 p.m.
