DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will play its first road Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Saturday when the Eagles visit University of Maryland Eastern Shore for a 2 p.m. showdown at Hytche Arena.
An audio broadcast of the league tilt will be broadcast for free on the NCCU Sports Network with
Jonathan Duren providing the play-by-play. Eastern Shore will also provide a video feed and live stats. Fans can follow the NC Central athletics all season on
NCCUEaglePride.com and on social media by searching NCCUAthletics (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) or women's basketball at @NCCUWBB (Twitter) or @nccu_wbb (Instagram).
NCCU (3-11, 0-1) dropped its MEAC opener, 67-50, to three-time defending regular season champions Bethune-Cookman University last Saturday. The Eagles pulled within eight points twice in the fourth quarter, but was held scoreless for the final 5-plus minutes. Junior
Paulina Afriyie notched her fifth double-double (second straight to start the New Year). Afriyie ranks amongst the league leaders in scoring (13.6), rebounding (9.1), field-goal percentage (.472) and blocks (1.6). Senior guard
Rodneysha Martin, a preseason All-MEAC selection, has returned to the lineup from injury and has averaged a team-best 16.6 points per game in seven starts. A quartet of guards are averaging between 5-6 points in junior
Shontai Totten (5.8), freshman
Dasmine Kasey (5.6), sophomore
Zaria Atkins (5.5) and sophomore
Kieche White (5.0). Totten tops the Eagles with 2.6 assists per game; Kasey leads the maroon and gray in made 3-pointers and 3-point field goal percentage; Atkins is coming up with a team-best 1.4 steals per game; and White, who was a MEAC All-Rookie selection last season, made her season debut last week after recovering from surgery. Freshmna
Kiyana Brown is second on the team in rebounds (6.7) and ranks second in the MEAC in blocks (2.4), but has missed a couple games due to injury.
Eastern Shore (6-9, 2-0) has won three straight games, including its first to MEAC battles against Morgan State University (73-68) and Howard University (80-72). Preseason All-MEAC honoree senior guard Ciani Byrom leads the Hawks with 16.5 points per game and is coming off a career-high 31 points. Byrom, who has scored in double-digits in nine straight games and 14-of-15 games this season, ranks tied for fourth in the league in scoring while also ranking third in free throw percentage (.770), third in assists (4.4) and 4
th in made 3-pointers (2.1). Fellow senior guard Keyera Eaton follows Byrom with 12.1 points per game and is amongst the MEAC's leaders in scoring, free throw percentage (.698), rebounds per game (5.2) and steals (1.6). Sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles is the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Year and is chipping in 9.5 points per game. Gill-Miles leads Eastern Shore with 7.6 rebounds per game (sixth in the MEAC). The Hawks are the top 3-point shooting team in the league, averaging 7.5 made 3-pointers per game at a MEAC-best .321 rate. Eastern Shore has four of the league's top-6 most accurate deep threats.
Eastern Shore swept NCCU last season by scores of 84-73 (Princess Anne, Md.) and 80-69 (Durham, N.C.). The Hawks top trio all averaged in double-digits for those two wins with Eaton (17.5) leading the way followed by Byrom (13.5 ppg) and Gill-Miles (13.0 ppg). Gill Miles averaged a double-double in those triumphs, pulling down and average of 11 rebounds per game. Afriyie scored 16 and 15 points for the Eagles against Eastern Shore last season. White had one big performance against the Hawks with a career-high 28 points, making six 3-pointers. The Shore outrebounded NCCU a combined 94-71 last season.
Complete Game Notes can be found at….
GAME NOTES NO. 15: NC Central at Maryland Eastern Shore
