DOVER, Del. – Redshirt sophomore forward
Tianna Carter recorded the first double-double of the season for the North Carolina Central University women's basketball team in leading the Eagles to a 75-54 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) road victory at Delaware State University on Saturday afternoon.
Carter matched her season-high point total of 15 points while securing 10 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double. Junior guard
Kira Lowery led the Eagles with a career-high 16 points and freshman guard
Diamond Thomas scored in double digits for a fourth consecutive time by bucketing 12 points on four made 3-pointers.
The Eagles shot 39.1-percent from the field, which is their second most accurate game of the season so far. NCCU (2-11 Overall, 1-3 MEAC) also held a positive rebounding advantage for only the second time this season with a 49-39 gain on the glass against the Hornets. NCCU shot 42-percent and dominated the backboards, 72-38, in its other win on the season against Johnson & Wales University.
NCCU dominated the first quarter against a Hornets team that was playing for the first time in more than a month. The Eagles never trailed in the contest and after a couple of early ties a jumper by junior
Nyasia Palmer at the 5:46 mark of the first quarter started a 7-0 run that put the visitors ahead for good. Carter then scored seven straight points for the Eagles during a 10-0 run a few minutes later that pushed NCCU's lead to double digits for the final 33 minutes. The Eagles led 21-7 after 10 minutes of play.
Thomas made a trio of treys in the first half and Carter tallied 11 of her 15 points by the intermission to help send the maroon and gray into the locker room with a 17-point lead of 38-21. NCCU extended the lead to 56-35 at the end of the third quarter, then ballooned the cushion to as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter before settling for the 21-point triumph after both teams scored 19 points in the final frame.
Nine Eagles scored in the contest with senior
Ashlyn Lockard chipping in nine points and seven rebounds. Junior
Madalyn Anderson added seven points and freshman
Nia Ford totaled six points and seven boards.
Senior Zoe Holmes was the DSU's top performer with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds, but the Hornets (0-10 Overall, 0-1 MEAC) remained winless on the season.
NC Central is next scheduled to play at MEAC foe University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Princess Anne, Md.) on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
