Jan. 8, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THE GAME: The Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central women's basketball team are home for the fourth time season when they take on MEAC opponents Norfolk State University (2-7), Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the McLendon-McDougald Gym. The Lady Eagles are on a two game win streak at home. NCCU (2-17) fell to Duquesne on the road Monday night (Jan.7) 78-33. Freshman Angelica Boles led the team with a carrer high of 13 points.

MEDIA COVERAGE: N/A

SERIES NOTE: Norfolka State and N.C. Central will meet for the 19th time in school history on Wednesday with the series Norfolk State currently leads the series 16-2. The two squads have not met since the 1996-97 season in which Norfolk State won 78-41.

LAST TIMEOUT: Kristi Little's double-double of a game-high 18 points and career-high 10 steals led Duquesne to their ninth victory of the season, 78-33, over North Carolina Central Monday night. The Dukes defense set a program record for fewest points allowed, which stood for almost 23 years. For the second game in row, the Dukes led from wire-to wire. Amanda Peck's layup at 11:12 of the first half capped a 12-0 run to open the Duquesne lead to 21-9. The DU defense remained fierce, as NCCU could only muster a pair of field goal the rest of the half as a Samantha Pollino layup closed the first scoring and gave the Dukes a 36-13 lead going into halftime.

Duquesne remained aggressive in the second half, holding the Eagles to 32 percent from the floor. The DU lead got as high as 46 points on a Keri Pryor's layup with under three minutes remaining.

Angelica Boles led the Lady Eagles with 13 points, while Latoya Bennett grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Dukes dominated in paint for the second straight contest, outscoring the Eagles 36-16. Duquesne also got 31 points off the bench, compared to nine for NCCU. Almost half of DU's points (37) were caused off of turnovers. Duquesne caused a season high 31 turnovers. The Dukes assisted on 20 of 30 field goals, lead by Sam Thompson's career-best seven assists. On the boards, Duquesne almost doubled-up NCCU, outrebounding the Eagles 40-21.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN, AND AGAIN: The Lady Eagles are on the road for majortity of the season. Since becoming a Division I Independent, NCCU will travel to Tennessee, Ohio, Flordia, Pennsylvania (twice), Georgia, Maryland (four times), West Virginia, and of course North Carolina.

LOOKING AT NORFOLK STATE: Senior forward Areya Walker posted team highs of 16 points and 16 rebounds for her consecutive straight double-double, helping host Norfolk State snap a six-game losing streak with a 68-59 victory over Virginia Union on Thursday night at Echols Hall. Tashawna Higgins contributed a career-high 14 points and Ashley Compton added 10 for NSU. Both teams had problems offensively in the first half. VUU shot just 11 percent (3-of-27) from the floor, but shot 74 percent (14-of-19) from the foul line and held NSU to 18 percent accuracy (6-of-34) from the field as the teams struggled to a 20-20 halftime tie.

But Walker scored two inside baskets as the Spartans opened the second half on a 7-0 run. They would not trail again. Compton hit NSU's only 3-pointer of the game to increase her team's lead to double digits for the first time at 44-34 with 10:41 remaining. The Spartans, who shot 46 percent en route to a season-high 48 second-half points, led by at least nine the rest of the way.

NSU was 21-of-29 from the free throw line, with Higgins making 8-of-9. She also pulled down five rebounds.

Walker finished 6-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. She also had three assists, second-most on the team. Walker now has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in four consecutive games. Samantha Traynham had 18 points and eight rebounds for VUU, which shot just 25 percent (17-of-67) for the game. Dashia Chandler added 14 points and Katchona Johnson had 10 points and 10 boards.

Opponent's Quick Facts:

Location: Norfolk, Va.

Founded: 1935

Enrollment: 6,200

Nickname: Spartans

School Colors: Green & Gold

Affiliation: Division I

Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)

Home Arena: Echols Hall (7,000)

President: Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers

Athletics Director: Marty L. Miller

Head Coach: Tara A. Owens (Virginia State '93)

Record at NSU: 1st season

Career Record: 92-152 (10th season)

Assistant Coaches: Malikah Willis (Iowa '98), Lamont Walker (Virginia State '04)

2006-07 Overall Record: 6-24

2006-07 MEAC Record/Finish: 4-14/10th

Starters Returning/Lost: 2/4

Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 6/6