| It was a game of highs and lows for the N.C. A&T women’s basketball team Wednesday as it dropped a 72-70 overtime decision at Appalachian State.
The Aggies (6-4 overall) lost their second straight.
"I thought we played good enough to win the game, but there were a few possessions on both ends, offensively and defensively on the floor that we didn't make the right read or play in order to put Appalachian State away," head coach Tarrell Robinson explained.
Despite the loss, A&T’s post players put together two strong halves, directed by redshirt junior forward Eboni Ross, who led all scorers with a career-high 23 points. Ross also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Redshirt junior center Aprill McRae finished with 18 points, scoring 13 in the first half. She had missed the last three games due to a minor injury.
"I hope the way Eboni, Aprill and Natiece [Ford] performed tonight is the start of a pretty formidable front line going forward," said Robinson about the post players. "Their play is definitely something positive we can take away from this game."
After A&T gave up its lead with less than eight minutes to go in the second half, Ross scored five consecutive points to lift the Aggies to a 66-64 lead with 2:09 left to play. But ASU took advantage of an Aggie turnover to score on a layup by Bria Huffman to deadlock the game at 66 with seven seconds remaining.
In overtime, McRae scored A&T’s first and only field goal at the 4:15 mark for a 68-66 lead. Redshirt junior Adriana Nazario tied the game at 70 with a pair of free throws with 1:55 remaining.
App State's Mia Marshall then found a hole in the Aggies defense as she scored the game-winning layup easily off a pass from Huffman with 13 seconds to play.
The Aggies saw themselves fighting back in the first half after App State put together a 10-0 run to take the 14-5 lead at the 15:02 mark. Gradually, A&T sliced the deficit. Late in the half, a 3-pointer by freshman Michelle Fitzgerald followed by a jumper from junior Natiece Ford, allowed the Aggies to take the 38-36 edge at halftime.
A&T opened the second half with nine unanswered points, but the Mountaineers regained the lead, 55-53, with a jumper from Huffman with 7:52 to go.
Debbie Smith added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies. Ford, who made her A&T debut, finished with eight points off the bench and was 4-for-4 from the field.
A&T will compete in the two-day UTC Christmas Classic hosted by Tennessee-Chattanooga beginning on Saturday, Dec. 20 against Tennessee Tech. |
