NORFOLK, Va. — All three of NCCU's All-MEAC honorees scored in double figures to lead the fifth-seed North Carolina Central University women's basketball team to a 56-54 quarterfinals win over fourth-seeded North Carolina A&T State University in Thursday's action at the 2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
Senior guard Kieche White scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to pace the victors. Senior forward Paulina Afriyie registered her 14th double-double with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Freshman forward Anissa Rivera added 14 points.
 
NCCU (13-17 Overall) won all three games against N.C. A&T (19-10) this season and avenged a quarterfinals loss to the Aggies last season. The Eagles are advancing to the semifinals for the first time since joining the MEAC in 2011-12 and are next scheduled to play eighth-seeded University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday at Noon for the opportunity to advance to the championship game.
 
Trailing by one point going into the final four minutes, White drilled a 3-pointer at the top of the key to catapult the Eagles ahead for good, 52-50, with 3:22 remaining in regulation. After a couple of misses by the Aggies, Afriyie doubled-up NCCU's lead with a layup off a pass by senior Zaria Atkins. The Eagles then made a couple free throws in the final 30 seconds to complete the two-point conquest.
 
The maroon and gray held narrow one-point leads after the first and third quarters and the two rivals were tied 26-26 at halftime.
 
After a sloppy 8-7 first quarter in which the two teams combined for just three made field goals, NCCU swished four of its first six shot in the second quarter to take its largest lead of nine points (16-7). The eight unanswered points included two consecutive hoops by Rivera. However, the Aggies outscored the Eagles 19-10 from that point to level the score at halftime.
 
NCCU reestablished a six-point edge a couple times in the third quarter, but four baskets by junior Jayla Jones-Pack over a three-minute span of game time pushed the Aggies back ahead early in the fourth quarter. The showdown remained either tied a slim one-possession lead in favor of N.C. A&T until White swished her go-ahead 3-point dagger down the stretch.  
 
White accounted for nine of NCCU's 14 points in the last 10-minute quarter.
 
Atkins filled up the box score with four points and game-high marks of six assists and five steals. White followed with four steals.
 
Jones-Pack topped the Aggies with 11 points and four blocks.