ALBUQUERQUE, NM – After two consecutive games against Power Four/Big 12 opponents, the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team returned to the grit that has made the program so successful for so long on Sunday evening.
In the end, the New Mexico Lobos got a timely steal and a bucket to secure a 71-64 win over the Aggies at The Pit. New Mexico improved to 2-1 on the season.
A&T dropped to 0-3 after losses to Texas Tech, 17th-ranked TCU and New Mexico out of the Mountain West. Fifth-year senior Chaniya Clark led the Aggies with 19 points and six rebounds, knocking down two 3-pointers in three attempts. Junior Paris Locke also entered double figures with 10 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists, but foul trouble limited her to only 23 minutes of action.
"I'm proud of how my young women responded after back-to-back lackluster performances in Texas," said Robinson, the program's all-time winningest coach. We found out a couple of things. We're really good when Chaniya Clark is on the floor, and we have a really good mid-major program. We're getting through our growing pains."
The Aggies did not appear to be a team recovering from the lingering effects of two consecutive blowout losses to Power Fours from the Big 12. They trailed 32-26 at halftime, and the Lobos took a 48-39 lead with 3 ½ minutes remaining in the third quarter, but A&T had too much fight on Sunday to let the Lobos pull away.
Sophomore guard Eva Andrews and graduate wing D'Mya Tucker quickly responded with buckets, leading to the Aggies outscoring the Lobos 9-2 over the final 3 ½ minutes of the third. A&T went into the fourth quarter trailing 50-48 before Locke used A&T's first possession of the fourth to tie the game at 50-50 with a layup.
A New Mexico free throw and a Destinee Hooks layup off an A&T turnover gave the Lobos a 53-50 advantage with eight minutes. However, the Aggies responded by scoring seven straight points, which included a pull-up jumper from freshman Crystal Hardy and a 3-pointer from sophomore Elliott Jessup to put the Aggies ahead by four with 6:17 to play.
Unfortunately, the Aggies went 2 ½ minutes without a point, allowing New Mexico to build a 63-57 lead. Junior Darrionna Howard got the Aggies back on the board when she took a pass from Locke and scored in the paint. Clark got the Aggies to within two, 64-62, with 2 ½ minutes to play on a 3-point play.
Jessie Joaquim slowed the Aggies' momentum with a layup. A turnover prevented the Aggies from responding and led to a Joana Magalhães score to give the Lobos a 68-62 lead with 1:38 remaining in the game. A&T could not get any closer the rest of the way. A&T out-rebounded the Lobos 39-36, but the Lobos scored 31 points on 24 A&T turnovers.
"Today's performance against one of the best teams in the Mountain West Conference gives our team the belief that if we take care of the little things, we've got a chance to have a special season, especially if we can take care of the ball and make free throws," said Robinson. "That's what today's loss came down to."
