GREENSBORO – It is hard to give an honest assessment of the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team even after its impressive 84-39 over Division II Ferrum Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center.
After all, the Aggies lost to four Power Fours, including two Top 25 teams. They have faced three other Division I teams, including a close loss at New Mexico, a road win over North Carolina Central University (NCCU), and a home loss to Norfolk State.
The Ferrum Panthers marked the third Division II team the Aggies have blown out this season, leaving them at 4-6, with their final non-conference game of the 2025-26 season coming against Division II Newberry on Tuesday, December 30, at 5 p.m. from Corbett.
With a résumé like that, a long holiday break ahead, and a challenging 18-game Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) slate approaching, head coach Tarrell Robinson doesn't want a team of seven newcomers focused on its win-loss record.
"One of the things I tell them is we can't be our record," said Robinson. "We got a lot of freshmen that are trying to figure things out. To me, those (Power Four) games expose what you need to work on. But we can't look at it like we're a bad team. We got injuries to some key starters, so I try to encourage them to that end, and I also try to encourage them to do the right thing."
Robinson and his team will take some time off during the holidays before preparing for Newberry. He will also take the time to instill in his team that the journey they have been on is about getting prepared for CAA action. Oh, and there is one more reminder he wants them to keep in mind.
"We were 2-7 last year during this time," said Robinson, who led his team to the CAA regular-season championship last season. "We understand you use this time to build character."
It took the Aggies 16 ½ minutes to build a sizeable lead against the Panthers on Saturday. Freshman Ja'naya Meyers spotted a trailing Chaniya Clark and tossed her a pass for a 3-pointer that gave the Aggies a 32-19 lead. Graduate guard D'Mya Tucker then spotted sophomore Eva Andrews open for another three to build A&T's lead to 16.
A turnaround jumper from freshman center Anaya Karriem gave the Aggies a 39-23 lead at halftime. Karriem ended the game with a career-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and 2-for-2 shooting from 3-point range.
"Was today a confidence builder? I would say that this makes me feel good about myself," said Karriem. "Just being a freshman and being able to know that the work you put in sometimes will show. The day before the game, I got some shots up, and they were falling in during the game, so we just got to keep doing the same things."
A&T scored the first seven points coming out of the locker room after halftime, culminating in another 3-pointer from Clark. A&T's lead ballooned to 63-28 on a Karriem 3-pointer. Clark, the Aggies' starting center, also had 17 points and added seven rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
"Learning behind Shaq (Clark) is like learning from someone who has experienced the game, someone who understands the pace of the game," said Karriem about Clark, who is closing in on 1,000 points and 700 rebounds for her career. "Once we got into the season, I started asking Shaq what to do more than the coaches because she is someone who has been in the game and knows how to read the defense.
I think our games are very similar, but certain things that she does and certain things that I do are different, so we balance each other out."
The presence of Karriem, Clark and junior Darrionna Howard helped the Aggies outscore the Panthers 38-20 in the paint. Howard finished with eight points and a season-high 12 rebounds. A&T's guard play was also solid, led by sophomore Eva Andrews, who finished with a career-high 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three.
After Newberry, the Aggies can begin measuring themselves against CAA competition, starting with defending CAA tournament champion William & Mary on Friday, January 2, at 7 p.m. from Corbett.
