North Carolina A&T Aggies Win Away From Home, Defeat ORU

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi  --  The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team saw its first action away from Corbett Sports Center in 2014-15. Despite the different venue, the Aggies were victorious.

The 17th-ranked Aggies (mid-major poll) used 13 points, five assists and four steals from Christina Carter to defeat Oral Roberts 47-38 the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic at Southern Mississippi University.

This win was head coach Tarrell Robinson’s 50th. He is the fastest to 50 wins (68 games) in school history. Teams are shooting just 36 percent against the Aggies this season and only one team, William & Mary, scored more than 50 points.

“Defense will continue to be the staple of our team and my program,” said Robinson. “I thought our team came down here and set the tone.”

The Aggies defense was certainly relentless Friday night. A&T held the Golden Eagles to just 36 percent shooting. The one bright spot for the Golden Eagles (2-4) was Vicky McIntyre who finished with 10 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks on 5-for-7 shooting. Outside of McIntyre, however, the Golden Eagles were 10-for-35 (.286) from the floor.

A&T (4-1) didn’t exactly have superb day from the floor, shooting just 33 percent. But the Aggies significantly cut down on their turnovers – 15 – while forcing the Golden Eagles into 33 miscues.

For the second straight game, the Aggies found themselves down 5-0. Also, for the second straight game the Aggies initial run gave them the lead for good. Debbie Smith took a pass from Carter and gave the Aggies an 11-9 lead eight minutes into the game. The Aggies turned Smith’s jumper into an 11-0 run that was capped off by an Eboni Ross steal and a Carter transition layup to give the Aggies a 20-9 advantage.

The Golden Eagles scored the next four points before an Adriana Nazario 3-pointer gave the Aggies a double-digit lead. The Aggies relinquished their double-digit lead once the remainder of the first half as McIntyre’s jumper with 1:19 to play made it a 28-19 halftime score.

It didn’t take the Aggies long to rebuild their lead once the second half started. Dana Brown scored in transition and Carter pumped in a three to give the Aggies a 33-19 lead. Nazario, Carter and sophomore Kenya Hailey all followed with baskets of their own to complete the 11-0 run to start the half as A&T took its biggest lead of the game at 39-19 at the 14:26 mark.

Oral Roberts did get the lead down to seven, 45-38, on a McIntyre jumper with three minutes to play. But the Aggies, who had 20 steals, picked up two more over the next two minutes to keep the Golden Eagles at a distance.

The Aggies are now 4-1 overall as they look to win the tournament tomorrow night at 7 against Southern Mississippi.

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COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION