DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will make its long-awaited home debut when the Eagles host Johnson & Wales University inside McDougald-McLendon Arena in a Monday matinee at 3 p.m.
GAME INFO:
GAME NOTES 09 vs. Johnson & Wales
DATE: Monday, Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.
LOCATION: McDougald-McLendon Arena
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NC CENTRAL BENCH:
The Eagles are coming off their closest loss of the season, a 60-55 setback at North Carolina A&T State University on Saturday, Dec. 11. NCCU (0-8) will be playing its home opener 42 days after the season started on Nov. 9.
Senior guard
Necole Hope – a Preseason All-MEAC selection – has scored in double digits in each of NCCU's last five games and she leads the maroon and gray with an average of 12.1 points per game, which ranks third in the MEAC.
Redshirt sophomore forward
Tianna Carter and freshman
Diamond Thomas follow with 8.9 and 8.6 points per game, respectively. Carter and senior
Ashlyn Lockard are NCCU's top rebounders, each pulling down an average of 5.6 boards per game. Thomas is 10th in the MEAC with 1.1 made 3-pointers per contest. Sophomore
Paris McBride, who is coming off a season-best performance against the Aggies with 11 points and five steals, is fourth in the league with 2.5 assists per game.
JOHNSON & WALES BENCH:
The Wildcats will also be playing their first game in nine days, coming off a 77-69 road victory at Bob Jones University. Johnson & Wales (Charlotte) plays in the Eastern Metro Athletic Conference (EMAC) of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). The Wildcats are 8-2 on the season under a first year head coach Jill Dunn, who has over a decade of NCAA DI coaching experience, but will be playing Monday's contest as an exhibition.
JWU has five players averaging over 10 points per contest and that pack of five leads the team in most statistical categories. That quintet includes senior forward Jordan McDuffie (16.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, 3.0 SPG), junior guard Tanaeschia Dorsey (13.6 PPG, 1.8 SPG), freshman guard Jordan Durant (10.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.9 SPG), freshman forward Ke'Airra Gregory (10.1 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG) and sophomore guard Jayla Lovett (10.1 PPG).
SERIES:
NCCU is 3-0 against Johnson & Wales University, last beating the Wildcats in a regular season game, 68-51, on Nov. 28, 2017. However, the two teams did play each other one other time since that contest, with the Eagles defeating JWU 85-43 in a preseason exhibition on Nov. 6, 2018.
