GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T women's basketball team almost has all the right ingredients for success. They have great camaraderie and sisterhood on the team. They want to win. They have veteran leadership. What's missing? Making the right basketball play.

A&T lost its third straight game with a 60-51 loss to the Hofstra Pride Sunday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center. A&T, which dropped to 9-15 overall and 4-9 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA0 play, struggled from the field, shooting 32.7 percent (18-55). It marked the fourth straight game the Aggies have shot below 40 percent.

Aggies head coach Tarrell Robinson said the game had remnants from A&T's previous game at UNC Wilmington, where the Aggies shot a decent percentage in the first half before going cold in the second. The Aggies were 7-for-29 (.241) over the game's final two quarters.

"It takes us four stops to score one time," Robinson said. "That starts to wear on you, so now, the Lady Aggies defense starts to go away. You give up a backdoor cut, or we give up a second chance. We've got to get better, as I talked about. We don't have to play hero ball, but we have to start making the right basketball play. Obviously, everybody's trying to double (fifth-year center Chaniya Clark), so when that happens, the ball has to find the wide-open person. That doesn't always happen."

Clark tied a career high with 21 points. She also had six rebounds and made 6 of her 7 free throw attempts. Freshman Crystal Hardy continued to play well off the bench, scoring in double figures for the third time in five games with 11 points on three 3-pointers.

The Aggies started to warm up offensively in the second quarter. Over a five-minute stretch, the Aggies scored on six straight possessions. Unfortunately, the Pride never slowed down offensively during those five minutes. Therefore, when Clark completed an and-1 with 4 ½ minutes remaining in the first half, the Aggies still trailed 30-25. Two Jamyia Lindsey free throws sent the Aggies into the locker room trailing 35-31 at the half.

Two Clark free throws to start the second half brought the Aggies to within two, but it was a struggle to score points from there. As a result, the Pride grew its lead to 10, 47-37, with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter. A Hardy free throw got the Aggies to within seven. After Michaela Hodge scored for Hofstra, a 3-pointer from graduate guard D'Mya Tucker cut Hofstra's lead to six, 49-43, with 1:50 remaining in the third period.

Hofstra took a 50-43 lead into the fourth quarter. A Clark and-1 got the Aggies to within five, 51-46, with 6:40 remaining in the game. However, A&T's next points did not come until  2:17 remained in the contest as Clark's tip-in cut A&T's deficit to 54-48. But Sandra Magolico scored on an easy layup inside, and Naveah Brown's 3-pointer gave the Pride an 11-point cushion with 47 seconds to play.

Brown led Hofstra with 17 points, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range. The Aggies will try to regroup at home on Friday, February 20, when they host Northeastern at 7 p.m. at Corbett. Earlier in the day, the Aggies will host ESPN's 2 p.m. SportsCenter live from Corbett. A&T will likely be without junior forward Darrionna Howard against Northeastern. She left Sunday's game injured after Hodge collided with her on a drive to the basket with 9.4 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

"They're trying to figure it out," Robinson said. "They're playing hard as well. But, you know, we'll keep fighting. We'll keep trying to get better. I know I have a really good group as far as talent. We need a break. Losing Darrionna today was a blow to our team emotionally."