GREENSBORO – College of Charleston's defensive pressure and North Carolina A&T's turnovers became the story in the fourth quarter of the regular-season finale for both women's basketball teams on Saturday afternoon.
As a result, the Aggies surrendered a double-figure second-half lead to lose to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) regular-season champion Charleston Cougars, 70-64, Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center.
A&T closes the regular season 12-17 overall and 7-11 in the CAA. The Cougars finished the regular season 24-5 overall and 16-2 in league play. Taylor Barbot led the Cougars with 18 points. The Aggies will enter the 2026 Credit Union 1 CAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament as the No. 9 seed.
Their first-round opponent will be William & Mary, a team that the Aggies have some interesting recent history against.
The tip-off time is noon on Thursday at FirstCare Arena in Washington, DC. A&T went into last season's CAA tournament as the regular-season champion and top seed. The Aggies beat WMU at home to clinch the regular-season crown before having to face WMU in the first round of conference tournament. WMU upset A&T on its way to winning the CAA tournament. Earlier this season, the Pride led from start to finish, led by as many as 26, before handing the Aggies their only double-figure loss of CAA play, 60-49, on January 2 at Corbett.
The winner of Thursday's game between the Pride and the Aggies will play A&T's opponent from Saturday, Charleston, on Friday at noon at FirstCare. On January 25 in Charleston, SC, the Aggies held a seven-point second-half lead before losing 71-62. On Saturday, with 2:10 to play in the third quarter, freshman Anaya Karriem's tip-in of her miss gave the Aggies their largest lead of the game, 51-35.
However, the Cougars scored the final seven points of the third quarter, which included a 3-pointer apiece from Anilys Rolon and Sophia Tougas, to cut the Aggies' lead to nine heading into the fourth. The fourth quarter opened with the Cougars' defensive pressure giving the Aggies problems.
Graduate guard D'Mya Tucker, who was one of three Aggies honored on Senior Day before the game, put the Aggies ahead by double figures again, 52-43, on a pull-up jumper 38 seconds into the fourth. Charleston used three A&T turnovers over the next three minutes to put together a 13-0 spurt to take a 55-53 lead. Nine of Charleston's 13 points during the run came off turnovers. Rolon and Tougas made 3-pointers during the run.
"Congratulations to the Lady Cougars. They finished as champions do," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson. "They didn't ever waver. We played really good basketball in spurts. They didn't shoot the ball well, but they started to get into their rhythm. We were already turning the ball over in the first half. But they started to capitalize in the second half."
Two Jamyia Lindsey free throws tied the game at 55 with six minutes to play. But the Aggies could not stop the Cougars' momentum. Taryn Barbot drove the lane for two before Taylor Barbot netted a three to give the Cougars a five-point advantage. Another A&T turnover resulted in a Jami Hill three to give the Cougars a 63-55 lead, marking a 24-point turnaround from the 2:10 mark in the third quarter.
"We lacked execution. That's on me," said Robinson. "Play calling. We were trying to get the ball into certain people's hands. We didn't do a good job of mixing up our press break, but they're a good team. They've seen it all as far as their press. They made adjustments, and we didn't. We'll be better moving forward."
Freshman Ja'naya Meyers got Charleston's lead down to five with 3:15 to play. A Darrionna Howard and-1 got the lead down to four, 65-61, with 2:42 to play, and a Tucker 3-pointer shrank Charleston's lead to three, 67-64. But Taylor Barbot put the Aggies away with a three with 90 seconds remaining on the clock.
In addition to Tucker, who spent her sixth season in Aggieland in 2025-26, the Aggies also honored fifth-year center Chaniya Clark and graduate transfer Shimei Muhammad. Tucker played her 122nd game as an Aggie and scored eight points. Clark's 12 rebounds made her only the second player in program history with more than 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in a career. Muhammad made her first start of the season.
Crystal Hardy and Lindsey, both freshmen, led the Aggies on Saturday with Hardy scoring 11 and Lindsey finishing with 10. Howard and freshman Anaya Karriem scored nine and eight points, respectively, off the Aggies bench.
"We need our upperclassmen to play well," said Robinson about the expectation heading into the conference tournament. "Freshmen are freshmen. This is their first tournament. Their first end to the regular season. They're still trying to figure out the standards of this program. We really can't put it on them.
We hope they play well. But our returners, specifically the young women who cut down nets last year, and hopefully right some of the wrongs, even going back to the tournament last year."
