GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior guard Morgan Jones scored 20 points and freshman forward Paulina Afriyie grabbed 13 rebounds in leading the North Carolina Central University women's basketball team to a 58-54 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) road win over archrival North Carolina A&T State University on Thursday evening in the Corbett Sports Center.
 
The Aggies trailed by 13 (54-41) with just 4:35 left before using a late 13-2 run to pull within one possession. A pair of free throws by senior Dana Brown capped the rally with just 26.8 seconds left on the clock to close the gap to 56-54. Afriyie was then fouled on an inbounds play and made the first of her two free throw attempts to extend NCCU's edge to three points, forcing the Aggies to attempt a game-tying 3-pointer. The deep try ended up an air ball and Jones sealed the victory by also going 1-for-2 from the free throw line.
 
Jones reached the 20-point plateau for a third consecutive contest with her 20-point performance. She swished all three of her attempts from behind the arc and tallied game-high totals of five steals and four assists.
 
Afriyie was a defensive force for the Lady Eagles. Her game-high 13 points included nine big boards in the second half. Afriyie also had two recorded blocks.
 
NCCU (8-20 Overall, 7-9 MEAC) knocked off the defending MEAC champions in its regular season finale to enter postseason play riding a pair of quality wins against North Carolina A&T and Savannah State University. The Lady Eagles will be the No. 10 seed in the 2017 MEAC Tournament and will play the No. 7 seed in the first round. The league office will announce complete pairings and first round times later Thursday night.
 
The triumph for NCCU was the first against NCAT (12-17, 8-8) since an 81-51 victory in Durham on Jan. 19, 2002. It also marked the first time the Lady Eagles knocked off the Aggies in Greensboro since a 69-46 win on Dec. 9, 2000.
 
The maroon and grey led after all four quarters.
 
The Lady Eagles doubled up the Aggies, 16-8, after 10 minutes of play. Senior Chantal Thomas scored the game's first four points on a right-lane runner and a 16-footer from the left wing to give NCCU the lead throughout the first quarter. A trio of three pointers followed off the hands of Jones, sophomore Rodneysha Martin and sophomore Dominique Adams to extend the visitors advantage to 12-2 before NCCU settled for an eight-point lead at the end of the period.
 
The Aggies barked back with a 9-0 run to start the second quarter to take their first lead at 17-16. A couple more three-pointers by freshman Jada Blow and Jones helped NCCU keep pace with N.C. A&T before a transition layup by Adams aided to the Lady Eagles clinging to a slim 26-25 lead at halftime.
 
N.C. A&T secured its largest lead of 31-26 after senior Aliyah Kilpatrick scored the first six points of the seconds half.
 
However, Jones and the Lady Eagles took over for the rest of the third quarter. NCCU flew ahead with an 11-2 run and the Lady Eagles never relinquished the lead again. Jones scored eight straight NCCU points in the run and Adams capped the flurry with her second trey.
 
Jones scored 13 of her 19 points in the third stanza and a late jumper by Martin had the Lady Eagles up 48-39 heading into the final period.
 
NCCU continued to maintain control for the first half of the fourth quarter and a successful putback by Afriyie had the Lady Eagles up 54-41 heading into the final five minutes.
 
The Aggies still trailed 54-45 with 2:35 left before a layup and a 3-pointer by Kilpatrick in a 25-second span ignited the hosts' late change that fell four points shy. NCCU was held without a made field goal for the final 5:56, but a pair of free throws by Thomas and one each by Afriyie and Jones proved to be the final winning margin.
 
Martin scored 10 points, Thomas netted nine and Adams bucketed eight. 
 
Kilpatrick and Brown paced the Aggies with 13 points apiece.


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