CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Senior forward
Ashlyn Lockard led the North Carolina Central University women's basketball team with 11 points in a 73-56 season-opening road loss to a Power Five conference opponent in University of Illinois Tuesday afternoon.
Lockard, who was just two points shy of her career-high points total in a game, also corralled a career-best eight rebounds.
The Eagles closed the deficit to 10 or less points on four occasions in the second half. However, sophomore Aaliyah Nye always seemed to have the scoring answer for the Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference.
Nye deposited a game-high 23 points on 9 of 16 (.563) shooting from the field. Her career-high point total included three made 3-pointers. Nye also had seven rebounds and seven steals as Illinois (1-0) remained undefeated in its season openers under the direction of fifth-year head coach Nancy Fahey.
A long jumper by redshirt sophomore
Tianna Carter at the top of the arc was the first basket of the season and provided NCCU with its only lead of the contest at 2-0. The Fighting Illini scored the next 10 points to take the lead for good, which included four layups in the paint.
The Eagles fell behind after only making one of their first 11 field goal attempts. However, a steal and fast-break layup by redshirt sophomore
Taylor Williams ended the drought from the floor and NCCU outscored Illinois 9-8 after the first media timeout to only trail by five, 18-13, after 10 minutes of play.
NCCU had a 16-13 rebounding edge in the first quarter, including six boards by Carter. The transfer from UNLV finished with career-high totals of seven points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the second half.
The Fighting Illini started the second quarter on a 10-2 surge to double up the score, 30-15. Illinois maintained a double-digit cushion for the rest of the half, including a 37-24 advantage at in the intermission.
The Eagles scored seven straight points early in the third quarter to inch within single digits, 40-31, one last time. That rally was capped with a pull-up jumper by redshirt junior
Kira Lowery at the top of the key.
Nye had the response for the Fighting Illini, draining a pair of 3-pointers from the right wing on consecutive Illinois possessions to begin a 12-1 run that provided the hosts with their largest lead of the day at 52-32.
NCCU was able to slash that deficit in half with a 13-3 rally. Lockard bucketed five straight points in the late portions of the third quarter and NCCU scored the first seven points of the final frame to make the score 55-45. But, Nye thwarted that comeback attempt by scoring two of Fighting Illini's next four baskets.
Junior
Madalyn Anderson swished a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and her second one got NCCU within 10 points one last time, 66-56, with 2:40 left. However, the Eagles did not score again and Nye provided her final basket in the closing minutes to help increase the final margin of victory to 17 points.
A total of 10 Eagles scored in the opener. Senior
Necole Hope, who is NCCU's leading scorer from last season, tallied eight points. Williams matched Carter with seven points while the trio of Anderson, Lowery and sophomore
Morgan Callahan all chipped in six points.
The 10 rebounds by Carter and eight boards by Lockard were major contributors to the maroon and gray matching the taller Fighting Illini on the glass. Both teams finished with 48 rebounds.
In a sloppy contest in which fans witnessed 53 turnovers, NCCU committed majority of them with 28 mistakes. Williams helped the Eagles force Illinois into nearly as many blunders as she had five steals on 25 Fighting Illini turnovers.
Sophomore Kendall Bostic, a transfer from Michigan State University, recorded a double-double in her debut for the Fighting Illini with 14 points and a game- and career-high 17 rebounds.
NC Central will next play at Appalachian State University on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.
