Box Score NCCU vs. North Carolina A&T       PHOTO GALLERY    

DURHAM, N.C (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) – The North Carolina Central University women’s basketball team sent a message to all its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foes as the Lady Eagles turned a 17-point North Carolina A&T State University lead into two final-minute ties before the Aggies paced to a 84-74 win on Saturday, Dec. 3 in Durham, N.C.

With over 2,000 Eagle fans supporting the Lady Eagles, the mighty maroon managed to turn a nine-point N.C. A&T lead into two ties at the 7:38 mark of the second half of play, before the third-leading scorer of the afternoon, Mikala Scott paced the Aggies on a final 16-6 run to conclude the first NCCU MEAC contest.  In the second-half play, the mighty maroon outscored the Aggies 42-41.

NCCU junior Chasidy Williams led the maroon and gray with a career-high 27 points, while freshman Kabrina Truesdale finished with 14 points and four assists and sophomore Tiffany Gary provided a career-high 13 points.  Sophomore Alesha Jenkins pulled down nine rebounds and circulated five assists, as senior Blaire Houston shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe and also distributed five assists.

The contest commenced with the Aggies dominating the opening minutes of play, on seven NCCU turnovers in four minutes of play, the visiting squad paced to 22-7 run over the first 13 minutes of play.

NCCU’s Gary was determined to put an end to the Aggie supremacy, hitting a crowd-pumping 7-0 run on her own, to pace the maroon and gray on a 12-5 run and bring the margin within eight points.

N.C. A&T’s JaQuayla Berry, who finished the contest with a game-high 28 points, revived the Aggie offense with an extremely long-range three-point shot with under a second on the shot clock to pace the squad on a final first-half  16-13 run for a halftime lead with a score of 43-32.

Williams, who finished the first half with 14 points, dropped the first four points for the Lady Eagle of the second half at the 18:59 the bring the margin within eight points.

While the mighty maroon picked up its defensive and offensive dominance forcing two N.C. A&T shot clock violations and outscoring the Aggies 19-17 over 13 minutes of play, the initial Aggie determination remained presence and the Greensboro natives paced to a final 84-74 MEAC win.

On the night, the Lady Eagles were 43 percent from the field on 26-of-60 shooting, 3-of-11 from behind the arc, and 63 percent from the charity stripe, 19-of-30. 

Along with Berry and Scott’s offensive dominance, Amber Calvin, who was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and circulated seven assists, netted 17 points and Tracy King finished with 11 points, while Scott stole four NCCU possessions.  In the MEAC contest, N.C. A&T was 37 percent from the field on 24-of-65, 6-of-16 from the long range, and 75 percent from the free-throw line, 30-of-40.

On the season, the maroon and gray drops to 1-7 and 0-1 in the MEAC, while the Aggies advance to 5-2 on the season and obtain their MEAC win.

The Lady Eagles return to action on Sunday, Dec. 11 with a 2:00 p.m. hardwood match with Atlantic Coast Conference foes, Virginia Tech.  Sunday’s contest marks the first ACC game of the 2011-12 season.

For more information on Lady Eagles basketball, visit the official website of NCCU Athletics at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.