WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – North Carolina A&T got a career night from fifth-year center Chaniya Clark and had a productive fourth quarter to knock off one of the top teams in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) on the road with a 71-65 win over the Monmouth Hawks at OceanFirst Bank Center in women's basketball action on Friday night.
The Aggies won their second straight to improve to 11-15 overall and 6-9 in CAA play. Despite Alexis Andrews scoring 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range, the Hawks dropped to 18-9 overall and 11-5 in league play.
Clark led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. She made all 10 of her free throw attempts, shot 7-for-12 from the floor, made two 3-pointers, and totaled seven rebounds and three assists. Junior Paris Locke, fresh off producing the program's first-ever triple-double, ended her night with 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
The Aggies won the game in the paint, outscoring the Hawks 28-12. They shot 49 percent from the floor, and inside 3-point range, A&T made 17 of 30 shots (.567). A&T used its strong presence in the paint to take a first-half lead. Clark's and-1 gave the Aggies a 29-23 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first half. A&T grew that lead with two D'Mya Tucker free throws before Monmouth responded with a 3-pointer to cut A&T's lead to 31-26 with 90 seconds to play in the first half.
A Crystal Hardy 3-pointer sent the Aggies into the locker room at halftime with a 34-28 lead.
A&T took an early eight-point lead in the third quarter. The Aggies still led by six, 42-36, on an Elliott Jessup layup with 4 ½ minutes to play in the third period. However, the Hawks used three 3-pointers to outscore A&T 14-3 over the final 4 ½ minutes of the period to carry a 50-45 lead into the fourth quarter. Andrews's layup gave the Hawks a 57-51 lead with 5:46 to play in the game.
Control of the game switched back to A&T from there. Clark showed her versatility by scoring in the paint to cut Monmouth's lead to four before she stepped out on the perimeter to hit a 3-pointer to get the Aggies to within one at 57-56. Two Kathy Kersaint free throws pushed Monmouth's lead to three before officials whistled Monmouth for a technical foul.
The Aggies took full advantage of the transgression. Clark made the two free throws awarded from the technical foul, and Locke followed by scoring on a layup once A&T took possession of the ball after the free throws, giving the Aggies a 60-59 lead with 4:22 remaining in the game. The Aggies never relinquished the lead again.
Clark scored four straight points to push A&T's lead to five before Monmouth answered with a 3-pointer from Madalena Amaro to get the Hawks to within two. But the night belonged to Clark. She took a pass from Tucker and knocked down another big three to put the Aggies ahead 67-62 with 65 seconds to play.
Andrews hit a 3-pointer to get the Hawks to within two with 20 seconds remaining. Clark emerged again, sealing the win with four straight free throws. Clark's night gave her 1,113 career points, making her the 13th player in program history to score more than 1,100 career points. She still has an outside chance to become only the second player in program history with 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in a career.
Jamyia Lindsey added 12 points and four assists for the Aggies, who will head to Philadelphia to face the Drexel Dragons on Sunday at 2 p.m.
