The Basics

• Score: VCU 60, North Carolina A&T 51
• Records: VCU (9-4), North Carolina A&T (7-6)
• Location: Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center inside the HDL, Inc. Athletic Village – Richmond, Va.
• Short Story: Behind double-digit scoring performances from Ashley Pegram and Isis Thorpe, VCU closed out its non-conference schedule with a 60-51 win over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. The Rams have now won five straight games.

How It Happened

• VCU took advantage early but NC A&T responded by taking a lead and the Rams went on a 7-0 run over two and a half minutes capped by a 3-pointer from Chaddaryl Clay to take a 12-6 edge.
• The Lady Aggies started to chip away at VCU's lead but the Rams held a seven-point advantage, 27-20 at the end of the first half.
• After the break, both teams exchanged baskets with the Rams maintaining their lead. A 3-pointer from Thorpe capped a run, where the Rams connected on 4-of-5 field goals over the span of three minutes to take a 43-32 lead with 10:57 left on the clock.
• NC A&T fought to cut their deficit early in the second half, but the Rams continued to pull away and extended their lead by as many as 16 points to hold off the Lady Aggies and securing their fifth straight win, and preserve their 10-game home winning streak.
• Ashley Pegram led the Rams with 19 points while Isis Thorpe contributed 18. Thorpe and Adaeze Alaeze each had five rebounds. Melanie Royster had blocks and Ashley Mitchell had three steals.

Beyond the Box Score

• VCU has won 22 of the last 28 December games.
• This is the fourth consecutive game VCU has held its opponents to under 60 points.
• VCU has won 10 straight contests at home, which with currently tied for 14^th in the county.
• The Rams are now 9-0 when they lead with 5:00 minutes left in the game.
• North Carolina A&T and VCU have several connections. The Aggies head coach Tarrell Robinson, and players Christina Carter and April McRae returned to the Siegel Center for the first time since being a part of the Black & Gold. Robinson spent three seasons (2009-12) as the associate head coach. Carter and McRae played for the Rams in 2011-12 and earned CAA honors.

Up Next

• VCU will begin Atlantic 10 Conference play at Saint Joseph's on Saturday, January 3. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.