GREENSBORO—It was a good night for the city of Greensboro and for women's sports. With its 56-51 win over UNC Greensboro at Corbett Sports Center Friday night in the opening round of the postseason Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team undoubtedly had a super night.
The Aggies and the Spartans played in front of an energetic crowd of 3,909 fans rooting for their favorite Greensboro Division I women's basketball team. Two Gate City schools separated by two miles fighting for city supremacy while trying to advance in a national tournament made for an excellent atmosphere, and no one can ignore the excitement surrounding the women's game.
The win improved A&T to 21-11 overall as they advanced in the postseason for the first time since 2010. Friday also marked the first time the Aggies have hosted an NCAA-sanctioned postseason game. They will do it again on Sunday at 7 p.m., as the Aggies will face the Old Dominion Monarchs at Corbett in the next round. The Spartans season comes to an end at 21-12.
"It would have been a major letdown for our administration to host this event and not win," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson, who added a postseason win to his historic career at A&T. "We wanted this round. We want to win on Sunday. We want to show our fans this is the type of brand of basketball we play and want them to keep coming back. We want to fill the seats like it was tonight.
That was electric. That was a great atmosphere. That's how college basketball is supposed to be. For our young women, that's the type of crowd they want to play in front of."
Call it jitters, but the Aggies did not respond well to an intense environment early. After sophomore center Chaniya Clark swished a short jumper to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead, the Spartans scored the next eight points and never relinquished the lead in the first half. The Spartans led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 13, 28-15, in the second quarter with 1:10 remaining. A&T scored the final four points of the first half to trail 28-19 at halftime after shooting 23.8 percent.
"At halftime, coach Rob talked about how our intensity was low," said All-Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) freshman team member Paris Locke. "I knew coming back from halftime, I needed to pick up my intensity. We were just dead in the first half, and we weren't playing Lady Aggie basketball. We knew what we needed to do in the second half."
That translated into getting out in transition and taking the ball to the basket. A&T went into full attack mode in the second half. After allowing the Spartans to shoot 46.2 percent in the first half, the Aggies clamped down defensively, holding UNCG leading scorer Jayde Gamble scoreless in the second half. The Aggies used their defensive rebounding to get out in transition, resulting in UNCG constantly sending A&T to the free throw line.
The Aggies went to the free throw line 28 times, making 19 of them. Locke played a significant role in A&T's transition game after Robinson moved her to the power forward position. Locke, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds off the bench, finally gave the Aggies their first lead since Clark's opening bucket with two free throws that gave A&T a 40-38 advantage. Two Makiah Asidanya free throws sent the game into the fourth quarter, tied at 40-40.
"We decided to start out in zone," said Robinson about the second half. "They 18 paint points in the first half, so you know a smart coach would come out of man-to-man and try the zone, and it threw off their rhythm a little bit. We were able to control Gamble. I don't think she scored in the second half, and that was (assistant) coach (Shavon) Earp keeping fresh bodies on her."
A&T's comeback set up an exciting fourth quarter, where the teams went through five lead changes and three ties over the first 4 ½ minutes of the final quarter before the Aggies got the ball inside to Clark for a turnaround jumper and a 46-45 lead. The Aggies went inside to Clark again for another basket before junior point guard Jordyn Dorsey netted two free throws to give the Aggies a 50-45 lead with four minutes to play.
UNCG outscored the Aggies 6-2 over the next 3:45 to cut the Aggies' lead to 52-51. Then, senior guard Maleia Bracone intercepted a Nia Howard pass and fired a pass down court to Dorsey for an easy fast-break layup, giving the Aggies a 54-51 lead with 39 seconds to play.
Dorsey led the Aggies with 17 points on 10-for-16 shooting at the foul line. Howard and Isys Grady led UNCG with 10 points apiece. The Aggies improved to 3-5 in postseason WNIT games heading into Sunday's contest.
"We had to go into halftime and reflect and make some corrections, said Robinson. "We had to fight back, and that's what we did. It was a heckuva game. That's how you would want a game to be against your city rival. It was a great atmosphere, so to our fans, please come back on Sunday. We are going to need you."
