news-record.com

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- N.C. A&T began life without former stars Amber Bland and Brittanie Taylor-James on Friday night, dropping an 80-64 decision to Marist in the first round of the Preseason WNIT at the McCann Center.

Senior forward Rachele Fitz led the Red Foxes (1-0) with 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Junior guard Erica Allenspach had 20 points and seven rebounds.

Ta'Wuana "Tweet" Cook led A&T with 15 points, and Jaleesa Sams and Crystal Murdaugh each scored 10. The Aggies (0-1) outrebounded Marist 50-40, but committed 16 turnovers.

Marist led 7-1 after 3:15 with Allenspach scoring the first five points. A&T cut its deficit to three at the 11:06 mark on an Amber Calvin 3-pointer. Kate Oliver then scored her first two career points on a baseline jumper, which sparked a 9-2 run that put Marist ahead 25-15 with 8:35 remaining in the first half.

After A&T cut its deficit to seven, the Red Foxes went on an 8-0 run to put them ahead 35-20 with 6:07 remaining in the half. Marist took its largest lead of the half at the 4:00 mark when Emily Stallings knocked down a jumper to make the score 39-23.

The Red Foxes grew their lead to 22 points at the 14:40 mark of the second half, as a Fitz jumper made the score 59-37. Marist led 63-41 with 12:20 remaining when the Aggies went on a 13-0 run over the next 3:44 to close to 63-54. Tierra Thomas scored four points during the run, with Sams adding three.

But Allenspach's jumper at the 8:24 mark ended A&T's comeback and started a 7-0 run for the Red Foxes.