CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (November 20, 2018) – Two teams who made the NCAA women's basketball tournament last season in the same regional but did not play each other did play each other on Tuesday morning.
The Virginia Cavaliers got off to a strong start and was able to hold on against a strong North Carolina A&T Aggies surge in a 67-57 win at John Paul Jones Arena. Last March, both the Cavaliers and the Aggies were assigned to the Columbia, S.C. regional with the University of South Carolina serving as host.
N.C. A&T came in as the 15thseed and faced and lost to the second seed, the USC Gamecocks. UVA came in as the 10thseed and faced and defeated seventh seed California, therefore N.C. A&T and UVA did not see one another in game action.
In some ways, however, the game the Aggies played against USC last season mirrored the game the Aggies played against the Cavaliers. The Aggies fell behind big in the first quarter last spring before making an impressive run to put a bit of a scare in the Gamecocks.
On Tuesday, the Aggies were 2-for-18 from the floor and 0-for-7 from 3-point range to find themselves trailing by 12, 17-5, after the first 10 minutes of the game. N.C. A&T got back into the game thanks to a second quarter that saw them shoot 9-for-13 from the floor and score 22 points. It tied a season high for points scored in a quarter by N.C. A&T. Two free throws from junior point guard Shantell Bostick got the Wahoos lead under double figures at 32-24 with 2:10 remaining in the first half.
Junior point guard Mikaya Wilson dwindled the lead to six with 44 seconds remaining in the half. A free throw by freshman Rayveen Peeples sent the Aggies into the locker room trailing 34-27 before Wilson took a pass from junior C'coriea Foy to dwindle the deficit to five.
With 2:31 remaining in the third quarter, Foy got UVA's lead down to three, 41-38, with a 3-pointer. The Aggies were not able to get any closer the rest of the way. A Dominique Toussaint 3-pointer pushed UVA's lead to nine, 53-44, with 6:55 to play in the game. N.C. A&T made one last push as junior center Alexus Lessears scored inside to make it a 60-54 game with 2:49 to play.
But Lessears' bucket was the Aggies last field goal as Toussaint sealed the game with a three with 39 seconds to play. The Wahoos were 11-for-24 from 3-point range for the game. Toussaint led UVA (1-2) with 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Aggies were led by Foy who returned to their lineup after missing Friday night's game against Winston-Salem State. Foy had 16 points, seven rebounds and five rebounds. Bostick came off the bench to tie a career high with eight assists. The Aggies committed a season-low 13 turnovers.
N.C. A&T (1-3) will compete in the Navy Thanksgiving Tournament 3:15 p.m., Saturday, November 24 against Maine in Annapolis, Md. The Aggies will then play host Navy 1 p.m., Sunday.
