HAMPTON, Va. – Regrettably, the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team has had to play games without members of its Veteran Three this season. It happened again on Sunday night when the Aggies played without graduate guard D'Mya Tucker.

But the Aggies persevered using two other members of the Veteran Three and a nice performance from a freshman coming off the bench. The Aggies got 18 points and 11 rebounds from junior Paris Locke, one of their veteran players, to earn a 62-57 win over the Hampton Pirates at the HU Convocation Center to complete the season sweep of the Pirates.

Locke secured her third career double-double, and the Aggies won their sixth straight over the Pirates and won for the eighth time in the last nine games in the series. In doing so, fifth-year center Chaniya Clark, another member of the veteran trio, made history by becoming the 17th player in program history to score 1,000 career points exclusively in an Aggies uniform.

She is also the third player to secure 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in a career. Clark finished with 13 points and six rebounds on Sunday for the Aggies. A freshman also contributed on Sunday. Freshman guard Crystal Hardy had 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and hit some key shots down the stretch.

A&T's sweep of Hampton improved the Aggies to 8-12 overall and 3-6 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). The win also snapped a three-game losing streak for A&T.

Tucker, who missed all of last season to recover from a knee injury she sustained during the last game of the 2023-24 season, had not missed a game this season before Sunday night. However, Locke has missed six games primarily due to a lower leg injury, and Clark missed three games after an injury in the Aggies' CAA opener against William & Mary. Therefore, the Aggies have had to play without all three being in the lineup before.

With all three in the lineup on January 18 at Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, NC, the Aggies dominated the Pirates from start to finish as Tucker, Locke and Clark accounted for 49 of A&T's 70 points in the 70-57 win.

However, on Sunday, the longtime HBCU rivals went through seven lead changes and five ties. Hampton's Aisha Dabo followed her missed layup with a putback to tie the game at 50-50 with 5:51 remaining in the contest before Hardy made her presence felt in a significant way. She started with a 3-pointer to give the Aggies the lead. After a Hampton bucket, Hardy drove to the basket and scored to put A&T ahead 55-52 with 3 ½ minutes to play. There would be no more lead changes or ties after that.

"We've always believed in the next man up," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "We've had people step up, and today, Crystal Hardy showed up ready to go. I'm proud of her for being ready. She didn't play a lot of minutes on Friday and didn't play last Sunday against College of Charleston. I'm glad she stayed ready."

Locke made two free throws after Hardy's layup, and the Pirates struggled to respond, going 0-for-4 from the floor, following Locke's four shots. Locke scored again with 55 seconds remaining to put the Aggies ahead by seven, 59-52.

Hampton did get to within three on a Kayla Lezama 3-pointer with four seconds to play, but freshman Jamyia Lindsey clinched the win with two free throws. Junior Darrionna Howard added eight points, four rebounds and four assists for the Aggies, who are scheduled to host the Elon Phoenix at Corbett on Friday, February 6, at 7 p.m.

Kiarra Mcelrath led the Pirates with 23 points as the Pirates dropped to 9-12 overall and 3-6t in conference play. Hampton shot only a combined 38.7 percent against the Aggies this season.