GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCW women's basketball nearly pulled off an upset against North Carolina A&T, the top team in the league, but the Aggies pulled away late with free throws to earn a 65-54 victory and the outright Coastal Athletic Association regular season title on Saturday at Corbett Sports Center.
UNCW finished the regular season 14-17 and 8-10 in the CAA, the most wins in a regular season since the 2018-19 campaign. The Aggies, who locked up a share of the regular season title on Thursday, clinched the outright title, ending the regular season 19-10 overall and 15-3 in the conference. North Carolina A&T will be the top seed at the CAA Tournament, while UNCW earned the 10th seed and will play Delaware, the seventh seed.
Taylor Henderson led the Seahawks with 15 points and seven rebounds and Kate Hollifield poured in 12 points, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jania Hall also reached double figures, adding 12 points off the bench.
The Seahawks grabbed an early 3-0 lead on an Ali Zelaya three-pointer, but the Aggies quickly scored 14 unanswered points and built a 19-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Hollifield led the UNCW rally in the second quarter with a pair of three-pointers as the Seahawks went on an 11-2 run to open the quarter, as the Aggies called timeout with the score tied at 21 with 6:19 left in the first half.
Both teams traded 6-0 runs after the timeout. With their spurt, the Seahawks tied the game at 27 with 57 seconds left in the half. UNCW outscored the Aggies 20-11 in the second quarter, tying the game at 30 with two seconds before halftime on an acrobatic driving layup by Hall, which resulted in a three-point play and a stalemate at the break.
Six turnovers and a five-minute scoring drought in the third quarter plagued the Seahawks as the Aggies led 46-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
Trailing by 10 with just over six minutes left in the game, the Seahawks cut the deficit to as little as five but could not come any closer as the Aggies pulled away down the stretch.
UP NEXT
The Seahawks travel to CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., to play in the Credit Union 1 Coastal Athletic Association Championship. UNCW, the no. 10 seed, will play on Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. against Delaware, the no. 7 seed.
On Feb. 7, The Seahawks led on the road against Delaware by 16 in the first half, before falling to the Blue Hens, 72-67.
