DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will begin a stretch of playing three of its fellow University of North Carolina System institutions when the Eagles make a short trip over to play UNC Greensboro on Thursday at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: NCCU vs. UNCG (PDF)
GAME INFO
Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
NC Central at UNCG
Greensboro, N.C. (Fleming Gymnasium)
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NCCU BENCH
The Eagles nearly picked up their first road win of the season at Jacksonville University on Monday, but the Dolphins scored the final nine points of the game to narrowly win by three points (70-67). NC Central (3-6 Overall) will be playing the middle game of its season-long, nine-game road swing on Thursday.
Freshman guard
Kyla Bryant posted season-high totals of 26 points and eight rebounds against Jacksonville on Monday. She has now reached double-digit points in three consecutive games to take over the team lead in scoring at 14.0 points per game. Bryant also paces the Eagles with 2.3 steals per contest.
NCCU remains the highest scoring team in the MEAC with senior guard
Kimeira Burks (13.7 PPG) and junior forward
Morgan Callahan (11.1 PPG) both averaging over 10 points per contest.
Callahan leads the maroon and gray with 9.1 rebounds per game, but she missed her first game of the season against the Dolphins to become NCCU's ninth player to miss at least one game this season. NCCU has 12 total eligible players, but out of those dozen players the Eagles have scratched names 34 times so far this season in nine games (31.5%).
NC Central will be playing UNCG for the first time since defeating the Spartans, 66-57, on Dec. 12, 2018, in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
UNCG BENCH
The Spartans remained undefeated at home with a 52-47 triumph over Elon University on Sunday inside the Greensboro Coliseum. UNCG (7-3 Overall) is 6-0 in home games, including 5-0 in Fleming Gymnasium.
UNCG's top three scorers all average within 1.5 points of each other with that group featuring junior guard Jayde Gamble (11.3 PPG), graduate student guard Ayanna Khalfani (10.6 PPG) and junior wing Isys Grady (10.5 PPG).
Gamble, who played her first two seasons at UNC Wilmington, leads the SoCon and ranks 23rd nationally with 3.10 steals per game. Khalfani, a transfer from University of San Diego, paces the Spartans with 3.4 assists and 0.8 blocks per game while ranking second on the squad with 7.5 rebounds per contest. Grady, a Preseason All-SoCon honoree, joins senior Khalis Cain (8.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG) and junior Nia Howard (4.3 PPG) in rounding a starting lineup that UNCG has used in all 10 games, making that group of Spartans a very experienced starting five.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.
