NORFOLK, Va. — Deja Winters hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3 seconds to play, lifting North Carolina A&M into the NCAA Tournament with a 59-57 win over Howard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday.

The Aggies earned their fifth NCAA berth when the final heave for the Bison went off the back iron. Howard was going for its first NCAA berth since 2001.

Following a Winters 3 with 49.8 seconds to play that made it a one-point game, the teams swapped critical turnovers in the last 21. The Aggies were forced to foul, sending Iyanna Warren, whose two free throws at 1:18 made it a two possession game, to the line with 11.1 seconds left.

After Warren missed both free throws, Chanin Scott grabbed the rebound and Jasmen Walton found Winters in the corner for a contested winner.

Jayla Jones-Pack scored 16 points and Winters 15 for North Carolina A&T (14-2), which won the MEAC South and claimed its first NCAA bid since 2018. Scott had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Warren led the Bison (15-4), the North champs, with 21 points and six assists. Jayla Thornton had 12 points and Anzhane Hutton 14 rebounds.

Howard shot 34.5% (20 of 58) from the field and just 12 of 21 from the foul line and had 20 turnovers. The Aggies shot 39.7% (23 of 58) with 21 turnovers but were 8 of 12 from the line. Both teams had five 3-pointers with Winters and Thornton, the MEAC’s all-time leader with 275, hitting four.

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