HEMPSTEAD, NY – North Carolina A&T put on a clinic on how to shut down the opposing team's top scorer.
There was also a masterclass on completely stifling the opposing team's offense in the fourth quarter as the Aggies women's basketball team recovered from losing its first game in over a month by defeating Hofstra 63-44 Sunday afternoon in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play at Mack Complex.
On Friday, the Aggies saw their eight-game winning streak snapped at Monmouth. Two days later, the Aggies got 19 points and 15 rebounds from junior center Chaniya Clark to improve to 11-8 overall and 7-1 in the CAA to remain in first place.
Clark recorded her second straight double-double, giving her five on the season and 16 for her career.
Meanwhile, Hofstra's leading scorer, Chloe Sterling, came into the game averaging 14.6 points per game. But she ended the afternoon 3-for-14 from the floor and 1-for-7 from 3-point range to finish with eight points as the Pride dropped to 9-9 overall and 4-3 in league play.
"Chloe Sterling is one of the top guards in the CAA," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "She demanded a lot of attention from us. I thought Jordyn Dorsey and Reiven Douglas played exceptional defense on their leading scorer."
While the Aggies had their sights on Sterling, Hofstra guard Emma Von Essen tried to fill the void. She had 11 first-half points before finishing the game with 14. Behind six first-quarter points from Clark, the Aggies took a 15-10 lead into the second quarter. But Von Essen opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer.
After a Clark putback, Von Essen hit a step-back jumper followed by a floater in the lane from Sterling to tie the game at 17-17. The two teams tied twice more in the second quarter, the final time coming on a layup from freshman Rachel Griffin, who was playing in her first game since December 21, 2024.
Griffin's layup tied the game at 25-25 before graduate guard Maleia Bracone drove baseline to score to give the Aggies a two-point lead with 30 seconds to play in the first half. Sterling did come up big for the Pride in the final seconds of the first half as she stepped a few feet back from the 3-point arc and netted a jumper to give Hofstra a 28-27 halftime lead.
"One day to gameplan for one of the top teams in our league was hard enough," said Robinson referring to the Aggies Friday night road game in New Jersey against the Monmouth Hawks. "We had to make some halftime adjustments on how we were guarding their personnel and defending their on-balls."
Those few minutes Robinson and his coaching staff used to adjust helped tremendously. Hofstra shot 17.9 percent in the second half and did not make a field goal over the contest's final five minutes and 40 seconds.
Offensively, the Aggies scored the first seven points of the second half, including a 3-pointer from Ajia James to take a 34-28 lead. The Aggies still led by six with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter as Douglas scored on a layup to give the Aggies a 39-33 lead. A Sterling layup sent the Pride into the fourth quarter trailing by four, 39-35.
Maddie Pounds got Hofstra to within two to open the final period. It was all A&T from there. A&T went on a 14-0 run that included a 3-point play from sophomore Paris Locke. Locke had five points during the run as the Aggies took a 51-37 lead with six minutes to play.
Von Essen ended A&T's run with a 3-pointer, but a steal from Dorsey led to a Darrionna Howard layup. That was followed by a Douglas steal that led to a Bracone layup to give the Aggies a 55-40 lead with five minutes remaining. The Pride got no closer than 13 the rest of the way.
Dorsey added 12 points and seven steals. Her seven steals are the most by an Aggie since Bracone had seven against Old Dominion on March 24, 2024. The Aggies return home at Corbett Sports Center on Friday night to face longtime rival Hampton at 7 p.m. on Greek Night.
