TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Junior guard Zaria Atkins scored a team-high 16 points – including a go-ahead, three-point play with 3.3 seconds left in overtime – to propel the North Carolina Central University women's basketball team to a 71-70 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) victory over Florida A&M University Monday afternoon.
 
Trailing by two points in the final moments of OT, Atkins drove the right lane and made a tying layup while being fouled. She converted the and-1 free throw with just 3.3 ticks showing on the clock to put NCCU ahead by one. The Rattlers took a highly-contested shot at the buzzer, but the errant shot bounced high off the backboard.
 
NC Central (5-13 Overall, 2-3 MEAC) completed the season series sweep of Florida A&M (4-13, 2-4).
 
Atkins matched her career-high point total of 16 points by making half of her field goal attempts (5-10) and converting on 6 of 7 free throw attempts (85.7%). She completed her big performance with four assists, three steals and three rebounds.
 
Four Eagles reached double digits in the scoring column. Sophomore Ashlyn Lockard and freshman Anissa Rivera each swished a dozen points while senior Paulina Afriyie has scored in double figures for a sixth straight contest with 11 points. Rivera, the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week, just missed a double-double with nine rebounds while also contributing four blocks and four steals.
 
Afriyie scored the first two baskets of the contest and NCCU led throughout the first half. The first of two old-fashion, three-point plays on the day by Atkins provided the Eagles with their largest lead of the half, 27-16, with 5:33 left in the second quarter.
 
The Rattlers finished the half on a 13-5 rally to cut the deficit to just three points, 32-29, at halftime.
 
Lockard scored 10 of her season-high 12 points in the first half to pace the Eagles into the locker room.
 
Sophomore Regan Anderson scored 11 points in the first half to keep Florida A&M within one possession at the midway point. She was held scoreless in the second half and overtime.
 
The Rattlers were able to grab the lead a few times in the third quarter, but a couple of made jumpers from the right wing and baseline by freshman Khadija Demry put NCCU back ahead, 49-45, after 30 minutes of play.
 
Junior Kailya Jackson rallied the Rattlers to overtime by scoring 12 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. She accounted for 12 of FAMU's 15 points in the period. A layup by Atkins gave NCCU a four-point lead with 87 seconds left in regulation, but Jackson made two free throws moments before her lay-in with 43 seconds left leveled the score at 60-60. Both teams missed a late go-ahead shot attempt, sending the two teams into an overtime battle in the Al Lawson Center for the second time in three years.
 
The Eagles held the early edge in the five-minute overtime period, but four made free throws by senior Asia Royster propelled the Rattlers ahead, 69-66. Atkins then scored NCCU's final five points to lift the Eagles to the triumph. Atkins made a jumper to pull the visitors within one, but FAMU made the front end of two free throw attempts with 13.3 seconds remaining to stay ahead two, 70-68. Atkins had the answer one more time, making her driving layup while drawing contact for the extra go-ahead point from the free throw line.
 
The maroon and gray shot 40.7-percent from the field while holding the hosts to 31.1-percent. However, NCCU nearly gave the game away by only sinking 56.4-percent of its attempts from the charity stripe, making just 22 of its whopping 39 tries.  
 
NC Central returns home to host Delaware State University in a MEAC showdown in its next game on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m.