WASHINGTON, DC – The North Carolina A&T women's basketball season is not over despite ninth-seeded William & Mary upsetting the top-seeded Aggies 74-66 in overtime Friday afternoon during the quarterfinals of the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament at CareFirst Arena.
The Aggies, the CAA regular-season champions, are eliminated from the conference tournament but will get a Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) bid on Sunday during the WBIT Selection Show on ncaa.org at 9 p.m.
That doesn't mean Friday didn't sting, as evidenced by two-time first-team All-CAA senior guard Jordyn Dorsey, who was visibly upset.
"They forced me to make reads and find out where the ball needs to go," Dorsey said about the Tribe's defensive approach toward her. "I did that from time to time, but it was hard trying to find some consistency with that so that we could pull out the win."
The Aggies dropped to 19-11, while the Tribe is 2-0 in the tournament after beating Hofstra on Thursday. The Tribe will advance to play Drexel on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Dorsey did become the Aggies' all-time assists leader on a lob pass into the post to junior Chaniya Clark with 5:46 remaining in the first half. She passed Ta'Wuana "Tweet" Cook (2006-10), who finished her career with 393. Dorsey had six assists on Friday, giving her 398 and putting her on the brink of becoming the first player in program history to record 400 assists.
Despite her assist numbers, the Aggies struggled to make shots. William & Mary didn't.
Dorsey had 13 points on 6-for-19 shooting. Sophomore Paris Locke shot 6-for-20 from the floor, scoring a team-high 16. Meanwhile, graduate guard Maleia Bracone went 3-for-9 from the floor for seven points.
"I hate the old saying that it's hard to beat a team three times in a row, but that proved right today," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "Hats off to (Tribe head coach Erin Dickerson Davis) and her Lady Tribe. They played a fantastic game. They played with a refuse-to-lose mentality, which you must play like that this time of the year.
There's not much we could have done. They got going yesterday and played with a lot of confidence today. They survived many of our runs and were the better team in overtime."
A&T shot 37 percent from the floor. On the flip side, William & Mary shot a combined 29.8 percent in its previous two losses to the Aggies this season. At times on Friday, it looked like the Tribe couldn't miss, especially in overtime.
William & Mary shot 51.7 percent from the field and 11 of 19 from three against an A&T that ranked seventh in the country in 3-point percentage defense. The Tribe missed its first shot in overtime but made its next four to pull off the upset. William & Mary's guard play was excellent. Monet Dance had 27 points on 7-for-9 shooting from 3-point range and 10-for-13 from the floor. Cassidy Geddes had 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting.
The Aggies missed their first seven shots in overtime. Dance opened William & Mary's scoring in overtime with a drive to the basket to score on a layup before stepping out and hitting a 3-pointer to put the Tribe ahead 69-64 with 2:54 remaining. The Aggies could never respond, and when Geddes hit a corner three, the Tribe had a commanding 74-64 lead with 1:21 to play.
"Our on-ball coverage wasn't its best," said Robinson. "We're one of the best, based on points allowed, defensive teams in the country. We were not characteristic of who we are."
The Tribe jumped out to a 9-4 lead, but the Aggies settled in as Bracone's 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter gave the Aggies a 20-14 lead. Locke gave the Aggies a 34-32 lead with 90 seconds remaining in the first half before Geddes' jumper tied the game at 34-34 at halftime.
A&T went on a 9-0 run in the third quarter to take a 53-41 lead with 1:38 remaining in the period. The Tribe scored the quarter's final six points to trail by six going into the fourth. The Aggies still led 57-50 with 8 ½ minutes remaining in regulation, but the Tribe got hot from there and never cooled off. An 11-4 run tied the game at 61-61 with 4:50 remaining.
A Chaniya Clark free throw gave the Aggies a one-point lead before Dorsey scored on a jump shot to push the lead to three. But a Kayla Rolph 3-pointer tied the game at 64-64, eventually sending the game into overtime after neither team could score over the final two minutes of regulation.
"Our season isn't over. I get the luxury of coaching this young lady at least one more game," said Robinson, referring to Dorsey. "I'm thankful for that. And I'm sure she is ready to respond and get a better result than we got today."
It sure looked like it.
