Women's Basketball Clinches Top Seed, Share of Regular-Season Title

EAST GREENSBORO (February 23, 2019) – No one from the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball program was surprised to see junior Mikaya Wilson step up and hit a 3-point shot on Saturday at Corbett Sports Center. While she often does not take 3-pointers in games, she is proficient at making the perimeter shot in Aggie practices.

Wilson finally showed the rest of Aggie Nation what she can do from the outside and she showed it off during a crucial moment in the Aggies 59-52 win over S.C. State. Wilson’s shot not only led the Aggies to victory, but it also helped the Aggies clinch at least a share of their third Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular-season title in four years.

A win on Monday against Savannah State secures the outright title for the Aggies. It would be the program’s first outright title in since the 2009-10 season and their first under head coach Tarrell Robinson.

The other assistance the Aggies received was from Delaware State who defeated the MEAC’s second place team in Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday. MDES’ loss secured the No. 1 seed for the Aggies in next month’s MEAC Basketball Championship Tournament at The Scope in Norfolk, Va. The Aggies improved to 16-10 overall and 13-0 in the MEAC.

N.C. A&T has won 21 straight games against MEAC opponents and they have won 31 of 32 contests against MEAC foes when last season’s MEAC tournament is included. They are trying to become the first women’s basketball team in school history to finish undefeated in the MEAC.

S.C. State was trying to end the Aggies hopes of an undefeated conference season. The Bulldogs (13-14, 6-7 MEAC) got to within one, 51-50, on a Rhein Beamon layup with 3:45 remaining in the game. After a 30-second timeout by the Aggies, Wilson popped off a screen, took a pass from junior Shantell Bostick and fired a 3-pointer that connected to put the Aggies ahead by four.

“We’ve been getting on (Wilson) most of the season about opportunities to take the threes because she really worked on it over the summer,” said Robinson. “She knocks it down in practice, but we always say do it in a game. She built up enough courage, and that’s what I talked to them about, having the courage to make plays, and that was a huge shot and a huge play.”

Wilson’s shot was followed up by a 3-point play from junior C’Coriea Foy to give the Aggies a 57-50 lead with 2:19 to play. Foy put the Bulldogs away with a runner in the lane that gave the Aggies a 59-50 lead with less than a minute to play.

“It is an everyday process to get someone as talented as C’Coriea Foy to understand she has just scratched the surface of how good she can be,” said Robinson. “Her confidence ebbs and flows throughout the game, but every game this season, especially during conference play, she has found a way to finish. I’m so proud of the way she finished the game today.”

Foy finished with 25 points on 10-for-22 shooting. Junior Alexus Lessears added nine points and a career-high 18 rebounds to go along with three blocks. Wilson ended the game with eight points and four assists.

N.C. A&T led by as many as eight in the first quarter but a Kyesha Lewis 3-pointer tied the game at 17 for the Bulldogs at the end of the quarter. There were five ties in the first half, but freshman Jasmen Walton hit a 3-pointer for the Aggies to close out the first half and give N.C. A&T a 31-27 lead at halftime. N.C. A&T led by as many as seven in the second half before another SCSU run put the Aggies in the position of needing Wilson’s 3-pointer.

Beamon led the Bulldogs with 14 points. The Aggies will face Savannah State 5:30 p.m., Monday at Corbett Sports Center.