GREENSBORO – The date is March 3, 2001. The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team plays South Carolina State at Corbett Sports Center on Senior Day. Senior forward Tarrell Robinson finishes with 13 points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes played, but the Aggies lose.
Twenty-three years later, Robinson is the all-time winningest coach in A&T women's basketball history. He has had numerous championships and accomplishments during his illustrious coaching career, but he has never forgotten that night, and it still pains him today.
It is a feeling he never wants his seniors to experience. As far as the 2023-24 senior class for the women's basketball program is concerned, mission accomplished. Senior guard D'Mya Tucker had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 8-for-10 shooting from the free throw line to lead the Aggies to a 57-46 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) win over Hofstra Saturday afternoon at Corbett on Senior Day.
In addition to Tucker, the Aggies honored seniors Maleia Bracone, Levossie Taylor and Nyah Willis. Taylor and Willis didn't play, but Bracone had eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Now that they have avoided the disappointment of losing on Senior Day, the seniors and the rest of the Aggies can turn their focus to the 2024 CAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, DC.
A&T improved to 19-10 overall and 13-5 in conference play to finish in a third-place tie with the College of Charleston Cougars. The Cougars beat the Aggies twice this season and, therefore, own the tiebreaker. Therefore, the Aggies will go into the tournament as the No. 4 seed but still maintain the double-bye, meaning they will only need to win three games in three days.
The Aggies will play either Hofstra, Hampton, or William & Mary on Friday, March 13, at 2:30 p.m. They are a combined 4-0 against those teams this season.
"I don't think we are playing our best basketball, but I think we are right on the cusp of playing our best basketball," said Robinson. "There are some choices, some decisions, some little things that are the difference between us being a championship-caliber team. I think we can do that. We can be ready in four days to go up there and win in DC."
The Aggies face another intense battle on Saturday against the Pride. The Aggies took an 18-7 lead in the first quarter, but the Pride fought gallantly for the remainder of the game. The Pride trailed 25-17 at the half and by as many as 10 in the third quarter. But Hofstra went 6-for-12 from the field in the third and cut A&T's lead to 36-33 going into the fourth quarter.
"It was a gritty, tough win," said Robinson. "(Coach Danielle Santos Atkinson) always has her young women ready to compete. They competed from beginning to end. They made it tough for us. We got up early in the first quarter, and they wouldn't go away. They worked their way back into the game and made it ugly for us. These are the kind of games we want to win because those are the kind of games that we must win to get it done up in DC next week."
Hofstra's Alarice Gooden cut the deficit to two, 42-40, by completing an and-1 with 4 ½ minutes remaining in the game. But A&T outscored the Pride 9-1 over the next 3 ½ minutes, culminating in A&T 6-foot-4 center Chinya Clark finding Tucker, hitting Tucker with what looked like a long touchdown pass on the break. Tucker scored on the easy layup. From there, the Aggies clinched the win at the line.
Clark added 12 points, eight rebounds and blocks for the Aggies. A&T held Hofstra to 26.9 percent shooting, and no Pride player scored in double figures.
"I joke with them about how I didn't win my senior year here at A&T, and that haunts me," said Robinson. "That's something that you want. You want to go out the right way, and it's good to have these young women go out the right way."
Tucker and Taylor will be after their second conference title after winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) as freshmen.
