North Carolina A&T dropped its first conference game of the season with a 85-84 loss to Hampton on Monday night at the HU Convocation Center.

The Pirates ended the Lady Aggies chance of becoming the first team in the program’s history to go undefeated in the conference. They also ended the North Carolina A&T school record 15-game winning streak.

The Lady Pirates came out with the hot hands at the outset of the game, surprising the Lady Aggies as they surged to a one-point lead at halftime, 43-42.

Senior guard Rachel Butler scored four quick points as Hampton jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 10-3. The visitors proceeded to outscore Hampton 10-to-2, taking their first lead of the contest at 13-12 following an Amber Bland jumper with 15:18 left in the half.

Once they got the lead, it appeared that the Lady Aggies would flex their muscles, taking leads of seven points on several occasions. But the Lady Pirates managed to overcome that deficit in the last minute of play, tying the game at 42-42 on a pair of free throws by Quanneisha Perry at the :49 mark and taking the lead at 43-42 on an Ashlee Finley free throw with 10 seconds remaining.

It took the Lady Aggies less than 30 seconds to regain the lead in the second half. It was a Brittanie Taylor-James layup and free throw that gave North Carolina A&T a 45-43 lead with 19:44 left in the game. The Lady Pirates stormed back to go up by six points with 15:39 to play when Perry scored on a layup that gave Hampton a 55-49 lead.

The Lady Pirates slowly chipped away at the Lady Aggies’ lead until ultimately taking a 75-74 lead with 4:09 to play following an Artavia Burns jumper. Hampton then went up by five at 83-78 with 1:58 to play, but the Lady Aggies scored five unanswered points to take their final lead of the night at 84-83 with five seconds left.

Hampton’s final points of the night came when Burns was fouled on the ensuring inbounds play. She made both attempts, giving her team an 85-84 lead, and a desperation three-point attempt by North Carolina A&T’s Lamona Smalley was off the mark.

Five players scored in double-figures for the Lady Pirates, including Butler, 19, Burns, 14, and Finley, 14. Perry added 12 points for Hampton and Chinyere Uhoh tossed in 10.

The Lady Aggies were led by Ta’Wuana Cook, who scored a game-high 21 points, and Taylor-James, who scored 19 points. Smalley added 15 points for North Carolina A&T.

The Lady Pirates will play their final regular-season game on Thursday, March 6, when they host Howard at the 6 p.m. in the HU Convocation Center.

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