GREENSBORO, NC – Call it GHOE fatigue. Call it the first game trying to blend in nine new players. Or give Wingate a lot of credit.
Whatever the case may be, the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University women's basketball team came away with what mattered most: a victory in its season and home opener, defeating a Division II Wingate Bulldogs that refused to let the Aggies blow them away on Monday. The Aggies won 70-59 at Corbett Sports behind 17 points on five 3-pointers from junior guard and Temple transfer
Drew Alexander.
A day removed from one of the biggest and most anticipated celebrations in North Carolina A&T history, the university's 100
th Greatest Homecoming on Earth festivities, the Aggies took the court with four new starters and looked good doing it. The Aggies ended the first quarter with a 23-5 lead after holding Wingate to only five shot attempts. A&T grew that lead to 32-12 with five minutes remaining in the first half on one of Alexander's 3-point makes throughout the evening. But the Bulldogs ended the first half with a flurry. They outscored A&T 11-3 to go into the locker room trailing 35-23.
"We looked like we were coming off of GHOE," said A&T head coach
Tarrell Robinson. "We were like this in practice too, just a little lethargic, not consistent. Thankful to have gotten the win, though I know we can play better basketball. But it's not anything surprising to me. We're still in our process of nine new players trying to figure it out."
Eight minutes into the second half, the Aggies had nearly rebuilt the lead it had in the first half. Arkansas State transfer
Yves Cox's putback gave the Aggies a 19-point advantage, 51-32. Two
Maraja Pass free throws gave the Aggies a 54-36 lead before Chi'Nya Isaac hit a floater as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter, sending the Bulldogs into the fourth quarter trailing by 16. Wingate used the energy generated from Isaac's bucket to make a run to open the fourth.
An 8-1 spurt, capped by an Isaac layup, cut A&T's advantage to 55-44 with 7 ½ minutes remaining. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Isaac pulled up for a 3-pointer to cut A&T's lead to 59-52. Laura Montiel Baena cut into A&T's lead even further with a 3-pointer that made it a 6-point game, 63-57, with 1:27 to play. But Pass hit a floater toward the basket, and sophomore
Anaya Karriem made a free throw to calm the waters and give the Aggies a 9-point lead with 34 seconds remaining.
"We started well, had a 20-point lead," said Alexander. "Then we just stopped and didn't play Lady Aggie basketball. So, I think we need to focus. We can't let their momentum drop our energy. We have to keep building our energy and adapt to adversity."
Four of A&T's starters reached double figures, including Alexander and A&T's one returning starter,
Paris Locke. Locke finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds on 2-for-3 shooting from 3-point range to record her sixth career double-double. Karriem added 12 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-10 shooting, and Pass finished with 10 points after making 6 of 7 free throws.
Kyleigh Bacon led the Bulldogs with 12 points and 12 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds. A&T hits the road for its next two games: a Friday night contest at Marshall that starts at 6 p.m., then a trip to the University of Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. EST.
