Courtesy of North Carolina A&T State Athletic Communications


GREENSBORO, N.C. – The North Carolina A&T State women's basketball team had a lot of promise to 3-peat as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular-season champions until an unfortunate injury derailed their chances. 

The Aggies were picked to win the conference at the beginning of the season and went 8-4 in the non-conference schedule. Included in their non-conference collection of 2019 games was a near-upset of No. 16 Miami. A 3-pointer with 18 seconds left helped the Hurricanes win 68-67 on Nov. 22 during the DePaul Maggie Dixon Classic in Chicago.

At Corbett Sports Center on Dec. 12, the Aggies defeated Southern Conference co-champion and city rival UNC Greensboro, 57-48, and defeated Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent Clemson, 82-74, in Clemson, S.C., before Christmas break.

N.C. A&T, which came into the conference season after going 16-0 the previous season, started MEAC play with three wins over Florida A&M, Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware State and won their sixth consecutive game at Coppin State, 84-39.

But then a key moment in the season occurred. Senior C'coriea Foy, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, was injured in the first quarter of the Aggies game at Coppin State, an 84-38 Aggies win on Jan. 18.

She was ruled out for the season with a knee injury with the Aggies standing at 12-4 overall and 4-0 in the MEAC. Two nights later at Morgan State, the Aggies saw their 28-game MEAC winning streak end with a 42-38 loss to the Bears. 

The loss also ended the Aggies 19-game road winning streak in MEAC play.

N.C. A&T returned home and lost to eventual MEAC regular-season champion Bethune-Cookman. It marked the first time in three years the Aggies lost back-to-back conference games. The loss also snapped a 12-game MEAC home winning streak.

The two-game losing streak left the Aggies looking for answers without a very key player.

The Aggies did start to play better without Foy in the lineup. They won their next three games including a 53-39 win over Norfolk State.  NSU was undefeated and in first place at the time to keep the Aggies dreams of winning another regular-season crown alive.

But the season is long and without one its best weapons offensively and defensively, the Aggies were not as strong down the stretch. They lost four of the final eight games including three to in-state rival North Carolina Central. The two teams faced off for the final time of the season in the 2020 MEAC Basketball Tournament Championship where the Eagles won 56-54 in the quarterfinals to end the Aggies season.

It turned out to be the final day of the season for all of college basketball because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Senior guard Cinia McCray recorded 307 points in her final season with the Aggies to give her 1,036 to become the 14th player to reach the 1,000-point milestone and finished 14th in school history. 

Foy came up seven points short of that milestone with 993 points scored at N.C. A&T to finish 15th in school history, but the 40 points she scored while a freshman at Alabama gave her 1,037 career points.

Senior center Alexus Lessears finished in the top-20 in three career categories. Lessears, who is looking toward a bright future in marketing, finished third all-time in rebounds (850) fourth all-time in blocks (116) and 19th in points (877).

Senior forward Le'on Hill led the Aggies with 209 rebounds in her final season to give her 606 career rebounds to rank 10th in school history.

While the Aggies may be left with what could have been had Foy not been injured. The program with a 75-25 record in their last 100 regular-season conference games that include three regular-season MEAC championships in that span is on solid footing.

With six seniors on the team, the Aggies signed six to national letters of intent (NLI's) for next season's team. Head coach Tarrell Robinson announced the signing of Sara Aumer (6-foot-4, C, Acme, Pa., Connellsville Area HS), Zikeyah Carter-Ransom (6-5, C, Waverly Hall, Ga., Harris County HS), Sean Kelly Darks (5-8, G, Cincinnati, Ohio, Walnut Hills HS), D'Mya Tucker (5-11, G, Orangeburg, S.C., Orangeburg-Wilkinson HS), Crystal White (5-11, Chesapeake, Va., Western Branch HS) and Nina Worthey (6-1, F, North Plainfield, N.J., Roselle Catholic HS)

The Aggies also return some firepower. Leading scorer Deja Winters is scheduled to return after averaging 11.8 points per game. N.C. A&T's second-leading rebounder is also expected to be back in Jayla Jones-Pack (6.7 rpg).

Rising junior Jasmen Walton saw her role increase when Foy went out. Point guard and UNC transfer Kennedy Boyd also returns along with sharpshooter Taya Jones. Two freshmen from the 2019-20 season, Ya'Taria Coleman and Shayla Nelson also return.