DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will make its home debut on Saturday, as the Eagles host the College of Charleston without fans inside McDougald-McLendon Arena. Fans can still watch the game on the NCCU Sports Network.
GAME INFO:
DATE: Saturday, Dec. 19, 2 PM
LOCATION: McDougald-McLendon Arena, Durham, N.C.
TICKETS: NO fans allowed
WATCH:
NCCU Sports Network (
Jonathan Duren, Play-by-Play, $4.99)
FOLLOW:
LIVE STATS;
@NCCUAthletics
DIGITAL GAME NOTES:
NC Central;
CofC
DIGITAL GAME PROGRAM:
Rosters with Paris McBride Cover
NC CENTRAL SNIPPETS:
The Eagles will take the court for the first time in a dozen days after their last scheduled game at Appalachian State University was cancelled. NCCU (1-2) lost its last game at High Point University, 87-65, on Dec. 7.
Sophomore forward
Anissa Rivera totaled 19 points, eight rebounds and five blocks against the Panthers to earn her first career Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Week honors on Dec. 8. She was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week one week earlier and is averaging 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game (ranked 8th nationally in NCAA Division I).
Senior
Necole Hope has scored 17 points in each of her last two outings to increase her scoring production to 13.7 points per game. Rivera and Hope follow senior guard
Kieche White in the scoring column, who swished 21 points in her season debut before missing the last two games due to injury.
White and Rivera are both Preseason All-MEAC selections.
NCCU is averaging 13 steals per game and its 39 total thefts tops the MEAC. A couple of newcomers lead the Eagles in steals with freshman guard
Paris McBride and junior guard
Cherelle Washington combining for 13 steals. McBride (9.7 PPG) and Washington (6.7 PPG) also round out NCCU's top five scorers.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON SNIPPETS:
The Cougars are undefeated at home (Wofford, Winthrop, NC Wesleyan) and winless on the road (South Carolina, Clemson). CofC (3-2) is coming off a 40-point triumph over the Battling Bishops, 109-69. The 109 points scored last Friday against the DIII opponent was the most points scored by the Cougars in their DI era.
Junior guard Tyler Collins leads CofC with 11.8 points, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Collins is pacing the Cougars in minutes played per game for a second straight year and joins juniors Arynn Eady and Latrice Perkins as preseason honorees by the Colonial Athletic Association. Eady, who led the CAA in rebounding last season, once again tops the league and ranks in the top-50 nationally with 10.0 rebounds per game while also contributing 8.8 points per contest. Perkins has yet to play this season due to injury suffered late last season.
CofC is averaging 74 points per game with its top six scorers all averaging within three points of each other. The Cougars are racking up the points by making nearly nine 3-pointers per game, which ranks 35th nationally (out of 318). Freshman Chelsea Wooten (10.2 PPG) paces the sharpshooters with 12 made treys and is followed closely by junior Madison Taylor (9.2 PPG), who is from nearby Ravencroft School in Raleigh.
SERIES:
The Cougars held off the Eagles, 85-78, in Charleston, South Carolina, last season behind a game-high 24 points, including five 3s, from Collins. White paced the Eagles with 23 points and Rivera, who now has seven career double-doubles, registered her first collegiate double-double in that contest with 14 points and a still career-high 18 rebounds.
CofC has a 2-0 all-time series lead on NCCU.
