DURHAM, N.C. — Seniors Paulina Afriyie and Kieche White along with freshman Anissa Rivera all scored over 20 points in leading the North Carolina Central University women's basketball team to an 89-71 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home win against Howard University Monday evening inside McDougald-McLendon Arena.
 
The Eagles were trailing 38-37 at halftime, but came out of the intermission on fire to roll to their third straight league triumph. NCCU (10-16 Overall, 7-6 MEAC) made 11 of its 13 field goal attempts in the third quarter for a scorching 84.6-percent to outscore the Bison 33-20 in the period and construct a double-digit lead.
 
Howard (14-11, 6-7) was able to inch within seven points briefly in the fourth quarter, but a pull-up jumper by Zaria Atkins starting a closing 17-6 run as the Eagles pulled away for the 18-point conquest in a match-up of two teams that entered the game tied in the league standings.
 
With the win, NC Central moved into sole possession of sixth place in the MEAC standings with three regular season games left. The top six teams entering the postseason will get a first-round bye.
 
NCCU started the showdown on a 14-2 to take its largest lead of the first half. White drilled a 3-pointer to start the scoring and the Eagles scored seven unanswered points to begin play. A 15-foot jumper by Rivera kept NCCU up 17-7 before the Bison finished the opening period on a 10-2 run to close their deficit to two points at 19-17.
 
White and Rivera netted the first two hoops of the second quarter to push NCCU's advantage back to six points, before a 15-4 run by Howard pushed the Bison into their first lead. The visitors continued to lead by one point at halftime until NCCU lit the net on fire in the third quarter.
 
Howard was still only trailing by seven points midway through the third quarter before White supplied three consecutive assists on a trio of NCCU baskets in a 75 second span. White's first two helpers were on back-to-back made 3-pointers by Rivera while her third dime was a behind-the-back pass in the paint to setup a layup by sophomore Kiyana Brown. The Eagles seemed to control the game from that point.
 
White, who scored 21 points, matched her career-high assist total with seven assists. Afriyie led the maroon and gray with 24 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks while adding three assists. Rivera had a productive outing with 23 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
 
Senior Zaria Atkins matched White with seven assists as the Eagles distributed the ball well with assists on 20 of their 32 made field goals. NCCU finished the contest shooting 53.3-percent from the field, including 60-percent (6-10) from 3-point distance.
 
Afriyie has scored in double figures in all 12 league tilts and logged her 10th double-double.
 
The Bison relied on the 3-pointer all game, taking nearly half of their shot attempts from behind the arc (30-of-67 field goal attempts were from 3-point distance). Junior Jayla Thornton made six of Howard's nine made trifecta's to lead the squad with 18 points.
 
NC Central will play its last regular-season road game next as the Eagles visit MEAC rival South Carolina State University on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 2 p.m.