GAME NOTES #14: NCCU at Delaware State

DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will begin Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play with a road trip to Dover, Delaware, to play Delaware State University on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
 
Jonathan Duren will be on the NCCU Sports Network providing a free audio play-by-play for those fans that cannot attend the contest Memorial Hall Gym. Fans can follow NCCU women's basketball all season by visiting NCCUEaglePride.com and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 
Game Info

Wednesday, January 3, 5:30 PM – N.C. Central at Delaware St.
Memorial Hall Gym, Dover, Del.
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N.C. Central Women's Basketball
 
The Eagles have lost their last eight games and are coming off a narrow 66-61 road loss at USC Upstate where the Spartans scored the last 10 points to rally for the win. NCCU (2-11 Overall, 0-0 MEAC) was picked 13th in the MEAC Preseason Poll (the Eagles were picked 13th last season and finished in a tie for ninth).
 
Junior guard Rodneysha Martin enters league play as the conference's fifth highest scorer with 13.6 points per game. She ranks second in the MEAC with 82.4% free throw percentage. Marin also leads NCCU with 2.5 assists per game after dishing out a season-high five helpers at Upstate and 1.5 steals per game.
 
Sophomore forward Paulina Afriyie has scored in double digits in five straight games to increase her season average to 7.2 points per game. She leads the Eagles with 6.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game.
 
Junior guard Sami Oliver-Alexander matches Afriyie with 7.2 points per game after drilling a season-high five 3-pointers in Spartanburg on Saturday. Fellow perimeter classmate Jayla Calhoun is coming off a 10-rebound performance and is chipping in 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
 
NCCU split last season's series against Delaware State with the home team winning both times. The Eagles secured the first meeting in Durham by five points, 68-63, with junior guard Dominique Adams scoring 11 points. In a close 55-51 road loss at DSU, Afriyie grabbed 13 rebounds and junior Dominique Adams tallied seven points and eight rebounds. Senior Kierona Morton scored eight points in both outings.
 
Delaware State Women's Basketball
 
The Hornets are also looking to break an eight-game skid after dropping a pair of games in the Florida Atlantic University Holiday Classic this past weekend. Delaware State (1-12, 0-0 MEAC) was picked 11th in the league's preseason poll after finishing in a last place tie with South Carolina State University a year ago.
 
DSU has the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year in junior forward NaJai Pollard, but she has missed the Hornets last six games due to injury. Pollard averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in the squads' first seven games.
 
Sophomore guard Lanayjha Ashe totals 10.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while leading the Hornets with 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Freshman guard Ryan Jones is chipping in 8.8 points per game while junior guard A'Nikeyawna Barber supplies 7.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
 
Pollard posted a double-double of 27 points 13 rebounds is a 68-63 road loss at NCCU. She then bucketed 17 of her game-high 19 points and made all three of her blocks in the second-half to rally DSU to a 55-51 home win over the Eagles.