GREENSBORO – Patience. After 14 seasons as the North Carolina A&T women's basketball coach, Tarrell Robinson understands it takes patience when playing multiple freshmen. The Monmouth Hawks defeated the Aggies 61-55 at Corbett Sports Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Aggies dropped to 0-2 for the first time in their four seasons in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). They are 0-2 in conference play for the first time since the 2021-22 season, when they were members of the Big South Conference. A&T is 5-8 overall.
Monmouth used a strong third-quarter showing and some defensive lapses in the fourth quarter from A&T to improve to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in league play. After scoring 30 points at Elon on Friday, Hawks guard GiGi Gamble scored a game-high 25 points on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. It was the experienced A&T players who led the way for the Aggies.
Junior forward Paris Locke finished with a season-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Graduate guard D'Mya Tucker made all eight of her free throw attempts and closed the afternoon with 12 points. Freshman Crystal Hardy did come off the bench to score a career-high 14 points and joined fellow freshmen Ja'naya Meyers and Jamyia Lindsey in handling some of A&T's point guard duties.
A&T played without 6-foot-4 star center Chaniya Clark, who sustained an injury after taking an elbow to the chest Friday night against William & Mary. In her place, the Aggies started freshman Anaya Karriem.
"We've got to keep growing. It comes down to the little things with this group. We have to figure that out," said Robinson. "Without Chaniya Clark, against one of the better teams in the league based on their winning streak, we were right there, ready to win. But it's the attention to detail. It's the small things. We're relying on some talented freshmen. They must grow in this moment. I told them, if you want to play, you've got to grow. It can't be an excuse, especially this time of the year."
Locke stepped into a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to send the Aggies into the locker room tied at 26-26 at the half. However, the Hawks shot 8-for-11 (.727) from the floor in the third quarter and were led by Gamble's eight points. Monmouth outscored A&T 21-12 in the period to go into the fourth quarter leading 47-38.
However, a drive to the basket by Hardy, followed by two free throws from Locke, got the Aggies to within three, 51-48, within the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they ran into a series of mishaps defensively that led to easy layups for the Hawks. Gamble benefited from back-to-back high pick-and-roll plays where no defender showed in the lane to give the Hawks a seven-point advantage.
After Locke responded with a turnaround jumper, Alexis Andrews followed Gamble's lead and got to the rim easily for a layup to help the Hawks regain their seven-point lead. Karriem's turnaround jumper cut Monmouth's advantage to 57-52 with 2:40 to play, marking the Aggies' final field goal of the game.
"We're going to be okay," said Robinson. "As long as they operate with a level of accountability and ownership, we're going to be fine. I can't wait to combine a healthy Shaq and a healthy Paris and experienced freshmen who went through the hard times."
A&T will seek its first CAA win on the road on Friday when it travels to Boston to face Northeastern at Cabot Center at 7 p.m. The Aggies will then head up the road to face Stony Brook University in the Long Island, NY area on Sunday at Stony Brook Arena at 1 p.m.
