DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team returns home for one game before Thanksgiving when the Eagles host North Carolina Wesleyan College inside McDougald-McLendon Arena on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
GAME INFO:
GAME NOTES 6 vs. NC Wesleyan
s. NC Wesleyan
DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: McDougald-McLendon Arena, Durham, N.C.
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NC CENTRAL BENCH:
The Eagles have lost their last four games and are coming off an 0-2 road trip, losing games at Rutgers (66-45) and Hofstra (69-60) last week. NCCU (1-4 Overall) is 1-1 at home.
Junior
Kimeira Burks scored 21 points in Friday's game against the Pride, which is the most points scored by any Eagle this season, to move into the team scoring lead with an average of 10.6 points per game. Burks made four 3-pointers in that contest and she leads NCCU with 11 made treys in five games.
Junior
Blessing Okoh ranks second on the team in both scoring (9.8 points/game) and rebounding (5.4 rebounds/game). Freshman
Jerni Kiaku is supplying 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game in her rookie campaign. Sophomore
Aniya Finger netted her first collegiate double-double against the Scarlet Knights on Wednesday and she is averaging 7.7 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game. Senior
Kira Lowery and sophomore
Morgan Callahan are both chipping in over six points per game.
NC Central played NC Wesleyan just one other time in program history and the Eagles rolled to an 87-58 home victory over the Battling Bishops on Jan. 11, 2021. Despite that contest happening less than two years ago, NCCU will be taking the court against NCWC with a completely different active roster.
NC WESLEYAN BENCH:
The Battling Bishops are coming off their first regular season loss on Friday, losing a close 77-73 USA South showdown with league foe Brevard College. NC Wesleyan (3-1) – an NCAA Division III member – lost an exhibition game 83-40 to Campbell University in its only other outing against a DI institution.
The junior forward duo of Nadia Simmons and Johnay Goddard are NCWC's top two scorers are they are each averaging double digit points with 13.7 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Simmons and Goddard are also tied for the team lead in rebounding with matching averages of 8.7 rebounds per contest.
Sophomore guard Areina Harris (8.5 PPG, 1.8 APG), junior guard Nyesha Best (7.8 PPG, 4.3 APG) and sophomore guard Deonna Adams (7.0 PPG, 2.3 APG, 2.0 SPG) represent NC Wesleyan's starting backcourt as they have each started all four games and are averaging over 20 minutes per game with Simmons and Goddard.
Senior forward Kayrisma Harrison had 10 points and eight rebounds in NCWC's loss to NC Central two seasons ago. Harrison, who is a two-time all-conference selection by the USA South Athletic Conference, played one minute in the season opener and has not played since then. She did play a team-high 26 minutes in the exhibition loss to Campbell.
