DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will play two games in three days in the greater New York metropolitan "Tri-State" area when the Eagles play at Rutgers University (Piscataway, N.J.) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Hofstra University (Hempstead, N.Y.) on Friday at 2 p.m.
GAME INFO:
GAME NOTES 4/5 at Rutgers and Hofstra
at Rutgers
DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Jersey Mike's Arena, Piscataway, N.J.
WATCH:
B1G+
FOLLOW:
Live Stats;
@NCCUAthletics
at Hofstra
DATE: Friday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex, Hempstead, N.Y.
WATCH:
FloHoops
FOLLOW:
Live Stats;
@NCCUAthletics
NC CENTRAL BENCH:
The Eagles suffered their first home loss of the season in their last game, dropping a 71-55 non-conference game to Campbell University on Saturday. NC Central (1-2) is playing its eight non-conference road games in eight different states.
Freshman guard
Jerni Kiaku is coming off a season-high, 16-point performance and she leads the maroon and gray with 12.7 points and 3.0 steals per game while ranking second on the team with 3.0 assists per game and third on the team with 4.7 rebounds per game. Kiaku is shooting 50 percent from 3-point distance, making a team-high five trifectas to start her collegiate career.
NCCU's next top-four scorers are all averaging within two points of each other in sophomore
Morgan Callahan (9.3 PPG), junior
Kimeira Burks (8.7), junior
Blessing Okoh (8.3) and senior
Kira Lowery (7.7).
Okoh and Callahan lead NCCU with 6.0 and 5.3 rebounds per game, respectively. Junior
Tippy Robertson is supplying 4.0 assists per game while the sophomore duo of
Aniya Finger and
Sydney Avoletta are both averaging 2.0 blocks per game. Avoletta is returning to the New York metropolitan area after playing at Iona University.
After the first week of the season NCCU ranks 12th nationally with 7.0 blocks per game. The Eagles also rank 23rd nationally with 25.67 turnovers forced per game. However, NCCU is ranked third worst nationally with 29.7 turnovers committed per game.
NCCU will be playing both Rutgers and Hofstra for the first time in program history. To begin the season Rutgers hosted Hofstra and the Scarlet Knights won that close contest, 73-68.
RUTGERS BENCH:
The Scarlet Knights, who will be concluding a four-game homestand to start the season when they host the Eagles, picked up their second win of week one with an 87-71 triumph over NJIT on Sunday. Rutgers (2-1) finished 13th in the Big Ten last season.
Rutgers only has eight players on its roster under first-year head coach Coquese Washington, but all eight are averaging at least 16 minutes per game and six of them are averaging at least nine points per game. Senior guard Awa Sidibe, a juco national player of the year in 2020, is playing 36 minutes per game and filling up the box score for the Scarlet Knights with averages of 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. Senior center Kassondra Brown, at transfer from Saint Peter's, is averaging a team-best 15.5 points per game while pulling down 7.5 rebounds per game. Junior forward Chyna Cornwell has increased her averages to 11.0 points and team-best 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in her third season at Rutgers. Junior wing Erica Lafayette is a fourth player averaging double-digit points for the Scarlet Knights, pouring in 11.7 points per game.
Rutgers is a good free throw shooting team (72.7%) that is drawing 22 free throw attempts per game.
HOFSTRA BENCH:
The Pride finished a two-game road swing to start the season and are coming off a 62-46 loss at Cleveland State on Saturday. Hofstra (0-2) – picked 13th in the Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Poll – will be making its home season debut on Friday (the Pride finished with a 5-7 record at home last season).
Fifth-year guard Brandy Thomas, who played four years at LIU and was a NEC postseason award winner for the Sharks all four years, has taken over as the top scorer for Hofstra with an average of 12.5 points per game, including a team-best five made 3-pointers in two games, and top rebounder with 8.0 rebounds per game. Classmate guard Rosi Nicholson, who was named CAA All-Defensive Team last season and Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention this season, is sporting averages of 12.0 points and 3.0 steals per game. Sophomore forward Zaniyyah Ross-Barnes, a transfer from Stony Brook, is a third Pride player who is averaging double-digit scoring with 10.0 points per game. Junior center Zyheima Swint is chipping in eight points and eight rebounds per contest.
Thomas recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against NCCU when her former team, LIU, hosted NCCU on Dec. 28, 2019. However, the Eagles won that close contest (61-59).
