NEWARK, Del. – It was a very happy birthday for North Carolina A&T women's basketball coach Tarrell Robinson.
Robinson celebrated another trip around the sun with one of those coveted Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) road wins with a 65-49 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens Friday night at Bob Carpenter Center.
The Aggies had a dominating performance on the glass to win their fifth straight, improving to 7-7 overall and 3-0 in CAA play. The Aggies outrebounded the Blue Hens 43-28. The disparity was especially noticeable on the offensive side, where the Aggies had an 18-4 advantage in offensive rebounding.
That led to A&T outscoring Delaware 19-7 in second-chance points. A&T leads the CAA in rebounding margin.
"I'm just proud of this gritty win," said Robinson.
It was a grind for the Aggies over the first three quarters. The two teams traded the lead throughout the first half, and two late free throws in the third quarter gave the Aggies a 50-44 lead going into the fourth. That's when the Aggies introduced the Blue Hens to the second-best scoring defense in the conference.
Offensively, the Aggies scored the first six points of the fourth to take a 12-point lead. Delaware did score the next three points before two more Dorsey free throws pushed the Aggies lead back to double figures at 58-47 with 6:49 remaining in the game. The Blue Hens never got the lead under double figures again.
Sophomore Paris Locke sealed the win with a powerful drive to the basket, ending with a scoop layup to give the Aggies a 60-48 lead with 2 ½ minutes remaining. The Aggies probably could have put the game away earlier but went 4-for-11 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Offsetting that was the fact the Aggies held Delaware to 0-for-8 shooting from the field in the fourth.
"We understand the one thing we can rely on when our shot isn't falling is our defense," said Robinson. "It's something our ladies really take pride in going into games. Tonight was the perfect example of our shots not falling but our defense creating offense for us and our rebounding giving us second opportunities to score."
A&T did not shoot well from 3-point range, going 2-for-14. But they did well on everything inside the 3-point arc, shooting 24-for-47 (.511). Dorsey led the Aggies with 16 points and three steals. Locke added 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Tara Cousins had 15 points for Delaware, who dropped to 3-10 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
After delivering a nice birthday gift to their head coach on Friday, the Aggies will head to Towson, Md., to face the Towson Tigers on Sunday at TU Arena at 2 p.m.
