North Carolina A&T opened play Saturday afternoon in the inaugural Chattanooga Christmas Classic with a 54-49 win over Tennessee Tech.
April McRae led the Aggies (6-4) with 10 points and six rebounds as North Carolina A&T had nine players score. Adriana Nazaro scored nine points, Christina Carter had eight and Eboni Ross had eight rebounds and eight blocks.
The Aggies led 27-22 at halftime and were up by 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 scoring six consecutive points for Tech to cut the score to 52-49 with 3:55 remaining.
The Aggies tightened their defense the rest of the way, and they sealed the 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.
Tennessee Tech faces Morgan State at noon today in McKenzie Arena.