UNC Wilmington Athletics

Seahawks Fall to North Carolina A&T

2/28/2025 10:05:00 PM

Tyler Kish

WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNCW women's basketball led by 10 at the half but fell to league-leading North Carolina A&T in a heartbreaker, 67-64, in Coastal Athletic Association action in Trask Coliseum on Friday night. 

The Seahawks nearly defeated the Aggies for the first time since 2012. They were also searching for their first win against North Carolina A&T in Trask Coliseum since 1990. The Aggies improved to 17-9 on the season and 13-2 in the CAA, while UNCW dipped to 13-15 and 7-8 in the league.

Four Seahawks scored in double figures as Taylor Henderson registered her third double-double of the season with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds. Evan Miller had 13 points and five rebounds, and Jania Hall added 11 points, both coming off the bench. 

Ali Zelaya nearly recorded the third triple-double in program history and the first since 1987. Zelaya tallied 10 points, nine rebounds, and eight blocks, tying for the third most blocks in a game by a UNCW player, the most since Martha White in 2011. Zelaya needs five more blocks to set the new UNCW single-season record held by Ioulia Boxley (77, 1999-00). She also extended her double-digit scoring to 13 games.

The Seahawks started fast, building a quick 10-2 lead in the first four minutes, getting five early points from Henderson. UNCW led by as many as 10 in the opening quarter after Tia Dobson converted a three-point play at the foul line at the 1:36 mark. UNCW led 16-8 heading into the second quarter and held the Aggies to shooting 3-of-16 from the field in the first 10 minutes of play.

North Carolina A&T responded with a 7-0 run in the first minute and half of the second quarter, prompting head coach Nicole Woods to call timeout. After the discussion, UNCW upped its lead to 28-23 with 4:30 left in the quarter, highlighted by eight quick points from Miller, a game-high in the first half. 

The Seahawks continued their strong offensive play to end the first half. McCall King scored five straight points as UNCW went on a 7-0 run in the final 2:08 of the quarter to take a 35-25 lead into the break. The Aggies made just one of their last nine shots to end the half. 

The Aggies started the second half by scoring 10 unanswered points to tie the game at 35-35 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. UNCW responded with seven straight of their own to regain a 42-35 lead with three and a half minutes left in the third, but North Carolina A&T regrouped and embarked on a 14-2 run to end the quarter, taking a 49-44 lead into the fourth. The Aggies outscored UNCW 24-9 in the third quarter.

Trailing 55-51 with 5:35 to play, Henderson made an off-balanced layup to make it a two-point game. The Seahawks trailed 62-55 with 2:24 left in the contest, but they rallied back to tie the game at 62 with 1:12 left on a driving layup by Henderson. North Carolina A&T retook the lead on a three by Aija James with 49 seconds left in the game. Hall answered with a quick layup for the Seahawks to make it a one-point game with 35 seconds to play. 

After a defensive stop, the Seahawks had a chance to regain the lead but couldn't convert on the offensive end. The Aggies hit a pair of free throws to take a 67-64 lead with 6.1 seconds to play. North Carolina A&T had fouls to give as the Seahawks had a few chances for game-tying three-point attempts after timeouts, drawing contact on two of them. Hall appeared to draw contact on the final three-point attempt of the game just before the buzzer sounded.

The Aggies scored 22 points off turnovers and outscored the Seahawks in fast break points, 18-9, and second-chance points, 13-2. Maleia Bracone scored a season-high 20 points with seven steals for North Carolina A&T. Paris Locke and Jordyn Dorsey each had 13 points.

UP NEXT

UNCW travels to Charleston for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday. The Cougars rallied from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to defeat UNCW, 64-61, on Feb. 16.