BALTIMORE, Md. – The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team pulled within two points of host Morgan State with just 5:39 left in regulation but was outscored 13-4 in the final five minutes to fall 66-55 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) showdown at Hill Field House Saturday afternoon.
 
Morgan State (12-13 Overall, 10-3 MEAC) moved into first place in the league standings with the victory and Hampton University and Bethune-Cookman University both losing on Saturday. NCCU (4-20, 2-11) lost its eighth consecutive conference game.
 
The Lady Eagles trailed by 10 at halftime after shooting 29.2-percent and committing 16 turnovers in the first half. However, NCCU made it a game by firing at 44.8-percent precision and protecting the rock better with just seven more mistakes in the second half.
 
Senior forward Tisha Dixon led the Maroon and Gray with her second straight double-double. Dixon finished with team-high totals of 13 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and 11th of her career.
 
Junior Monique Whaley Briggs and freshman Chantal Thomas both deposited 11 points. Thomas paced the Lady Eagles with five assists and four steals. Sophomore Kierona Morton matched her season-high output by contributing eight points.
 
Three layups by the Lady Bears – the first by junior Jayde Duncan and the next two by sophomore Tykyrah Williams – started the finishing 13-4 run. NCCU was held to just one made field goal in nine tries down the stretch and Morgan State sealed the double-digit conquest with six consecutive made free throws in the final 15 seconds.
 
Sophomore Braennan Farrar led the triumphant Lady Bears with 15 points, seven assists and four steals. Classsmate Zuri White added a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior Benedicta Makakala also bucketed 10 points.
 
NCCU jumped out with an opening 7-0 run that featured a Dixon baseline jumper and Thomas making a layup while being fouled and a pull-up jumper in the lane. The Lady Eagles held Morgan State without a field goal for the first seven minutes and 39 seconds of play as the Lady Bears started 0 for 11 from the field with five turnovers.
 
The roles reversed after NCCU freshman Jayla Calhoun drilled a 15-footer at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter. Calhoun's hoop kept the visitors ahead by seven at 9-2, but the Lady Eagles would be held scoreless for the rest of the opening frame.
 
Morgan State closed the first 10-minute quarter on an 8-0 run. A layup by Farrar just before the buzzer put the Lady Bears up one, 10-9, and Morgan State would never relinquish the lead in the final three periods.
 
NCCU stayed close to MSU throughout the second quarter before a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute increased the hosts cushion to 10 (30-20) at the intermission. The Lady Bears missed their first eight attempts from behind the arc in the first quarter but heated up in the second stanza by making 4 of their next 6 attempts from long range.
 
A 6-0 NCCU run to start the second half let Morgan State know that the Lady Eagles were not going to quit. Morton started the third quarter with two straight baskets and Thomas followed with another pull-up jumper. NCCU then got to within one possession of the Lady Bears on two occasions in the period at 34-32 after a Thomas layup and 43-40 following a freshman Deja McCain three-point play but Morgan State answered both times.
 
The two teams traded the first six baskets of the fourth quarter as NCCU inched within three points a trio of times early in the period. The Lady Eagles kept fighting and a Dixon layup and two free throws my Morton closed the visitors deficit to two points at 53-51 before Morgan State responded with its 13-4 retort to solidify the 11-point win.
 
McCain finished with seven points and Morton seized seven boards.
 
NCCU concludes a three-game road swing at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.