Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – During the 2013-14 North Carolina Central University women's basketball home-opening contest, the Lady Eagles fell to 1-1 on the season as they dropped a back-and-forth battle to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 66-55 on Sunday, Nov. 17 in Durham.

For the second-straight game, redshirt senior Jessica Freeman (Charlotte, N.C.)  scored an impressive 18 points, shooting 6-of-21 from the field, 3-of-10 from three-point land and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe as senior Tiffany Gary (Delray Beach, Fla.) earned her first double-double of the season contributing 10 points and 12 rebounds in the Lady Eagles shortcoming.

Three Chanticleers scored in double figures as AJ Jordan led the game with 23 points.

A basket from behind the arc from Freeman put NCCU on top of the Chanticleers early in the contest before Coastal Carolina held the Lady Eagles scoreless and tied the score at three with 18 minutes on the clock.

With the momentum shift in favor of CCU, the Chanticleer pulled ahead by as many as nine after a layup from CCU's Alexx Puckett set the score to 19-10 with 10:56 left in the first frame.

NCCU's offense came alive midway through the first twenty as the Lady Eagles turned their nine point deficit into a 19-4 run anchored by a steal and dish from junior Rachel Williams (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) to rookie Tia Clement (Winston-Salem, N.C.) tying the score at 23 at the 4:05 mark.

During the next NCCU possession a missed three from Freeman was snatched by Clement who was fouled on the way down by CCU's Kayla Cook. Clement knocked down both foul shots putting the Lady Eagles back on top for the first time since the 18:44 mark at 25-23 with 3:18 left in the half.

NCCU scored two more times in the closing minutes holding onto a 29-25 lead going into the locker room.
Starting the second half on a 12-5 run, the momentum stayed in favor of the Lady Eagles as they saw their largest lead of the game after three made shots from the charity stripe from Freeman put NCCU on top, 41-30.

Following their largest lead, the Lady Eagles were held scoreless for nearly ten minutes as CCU went on a 15-1 run taking the three-point lead with 9:21 left in the contest.

Racquel Davis' (Brooklyn, N.Y.) layup from Freeman ended NCCU's scoring drought with 7:37 on the clock followed by a second Williams to Clement connection, this time to corner, where the freshman drained a three ball, tying the contest for the fourth time.  

The next two trips down the floor the Lady Eagles swapped points with the Chanticleers before CCU pulled out of reach, earning their largest lead (12 points) with 33 seconds left of action and then sealing the 11 point, 66-55, victory.

As a team, NCCU shot 16-of-63 from the field (30.2 percent), 4-of-15 from behind the arc (26.7%) and 13-of20 from the charity stripe (65.0%), while gathering 40 total rebounds, 14 assists, five blocks and 15 steals.

The Lady Eagles return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. as NCCU hits the road to take on University of South Florida Bulls in a mid-week, non-conference contest in Tampa, Fla.