DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will play its first home game in 17 days when the Eagles host Appalachian State University inside McDougald-McLendon Arena on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
GAME INFO:
GAME NOTES 11 vs. App State
vs. App State
DATE: Thursday, Dec. 15, at 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: McDougald-McLendon Arena, Durham, N.C.
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NC CENTRAL BENCH:
The Eagles are coming off a 1-2 road swing that featured travels to West Virginia, Illinois and Tennessee. NC Central (3-7 Overall) is 2-2 at home this season.
Freshman guard
Jerni Kiaku has scored in double digits in five of her first 10 collegiate games to lead the maroon and gray with an average of 10.4 points per game. Kiaku also paces the Eagles with 2.2 steals per contest.
NCCU's next five top scorers are all averaging within 2.5 points of each other. Senior guard
Kira Lowery (9.6 PPG) is coming off a career-high, 22-point performance in her hometown against University of Memphis last Thursday. Junior guard
Kimeira Burks (9.7 PPG) leads NCCU with 22 made 3-pointers in 10 contests. Junior forward
Aniya Finger (8.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG), junior wing
Blessing Okoh (7.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG) and sophomore forward
Morgan Callahan (8.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG) are the top three rebounders for the Eagles.
Junior guard
Tippy Robertson is tied with Lowery for the team lead in helpers as they are both averaging 2.7 assists per game. Finger (1.3 BPG), Okoh (1.1 BPG) and sophomore
Nia Ford (1.0 BPG) are all averaging at least one block per contest as NCCU leads the MEAC and ranks 41st nationally with 4.6 team blocks per game.
NCCU also ranks seventh nationally with 24.90 turnovers forced per outing.
The Eagles are 0-2 all-time against App State, including an 80-66 setback in Boone last season on Nov. 14, 2021. Ford scored eight points in that contest.
APP STATE BENCH:
The Mountaineers picked up a 107-52 home win over Johnson C. Smith University in their last outing on Saturday. App State (3-5 Overall) is still searching for its first road win of the campaign (0-4).
Senior guard Janay Sanders is scoring a team-best average of 15.1 points per game while ranking among the team leaders with averages of 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals per contest. Sanders has scored 35 of her 121 points on the season from the free throw line.
App State leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks 11th nationally with 28.5 three-point attempts per game. The Mountaineers are making 7.6 treys per contest with guards Emily Carver (9.6 PPG), Lauren Carter (9.6 PPG) and Brooke Bigott (8.0 PPG) all averaging at least one made triple per game.
Carter and Bigott lead the squad in rebounding with averages of 6.4 and 5.4 rebounds per game, respectively.
Sanders and junior guard Faith Alston (9.2 PPG) both scored 17 points in App State's 14-point triumph over NCCU last season.
