North Carolina A&T opened play at the inaugural Chattanooga Christmas Classic with a 54-49 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon at McKenzie Arena.
April McRae lead the Aggies (6-4) with 10 points and six rebounds as North Carolina A&T had nine players score in the win. Adriana Nazaro scored nine, Christina Carter had eight and Eboni Ross had six points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.
The Aggies led 27-22 at the half and were up by as many as 10 in the second half before the Golden Eagles mounted a late rally. Hannah Goolsby hit one of two free throws 4:13 remaining to spark a 7-0 flurry with Samaria Howard scored six consecutive points for Tech to cut the score to 49-52 with 3:55remaining.
The Aggies defense tightened up the rest of the way and they sealed with win on a layup by McRae with 10 seconds remaining.
Tennessee Tech (2-7) was led by Candice Parsons with 11 points, and Howard and Catherine Taylor each scored 10. Howard also had eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
Both teams are back in action today at McKenzie Arena with Tennessee Tech facing Morgan State at noon while North Carolina A&T takes on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at approximately 2 p.m.