DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team is coming off an impressive road win and will try and extend a four-game home win streak when the Eagles begin the second half of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with home games against Morgan State University (Saturday, 2 p.m.) and Coppin State University (Monday, 5:30 p.m.).
NCCU WBB GAME NOTES No. 23 & 24: vs. Morgan St. & Coppin St.
GAME INFO:
Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m., in Durham, N.C.
Morgan State at NC Central
WATCH (NCCU Sports Network);
Live Stats
Monday, Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m., in Durham, N.C.
Coppin State at NC Central
WATCH (NCCU Sports Network);
Live Stats
NCCU BENCH:
The Eagles return home after tallying a 73-68 overtime road win at Norfolk State on Monday. The Eagles, who have won three of their last four games and four consecutive home contests, is in fourth place out of eight teams in the MEAC standing at the midway point of league play.
Freshman
Jerni Kiaku (12.5 PPG) and junior
Kimeira Burks (12.0 PPG) are sixth and eighth leading scorers in the conference, respectively. Burks has scored 20-plus points in six games this season and has earned to MEAC Player of the Week awards the campaign as the top 3-point shooter in the league. Kiaku has collected six MEAC Rookie of the Week awards as she has scored in double digits in 15 of NCCU's 22 games.
Sophomore forward
Morgan Callahan is coming off a career-high 17 rebound performance against the Spartans and she leads NCCU with 5.9 rebounds per game. She is also third on the team in scoring at 8.5 points per game.
The Eagles remain the highest scoring team in the MEAC at 68.4 points per game while ranking fourth nationally with 23.09 turnovers forced per game. A total of seven NCCU players are averaging over one steal per game.
NCCU dropped its first meeting to both Morgan State (81-71) and Coppin State (72-67) on the season in Baltimore last month. Kiaku scored a team-high 14 points against the Bears while Callahan had 11 points and six rebounds in that contest. Burks poured in four 3-pointers on the way to 19 points in the narrow five-point loss at CSU.
MORGAN STATE BENCH:
The Bears completed the first half of league play undefeated with a 76-64 home win over South Carolina State in their last game on Monday. Morgan State (14-6 Overall, 7-0 MEAC) is undefeated at home, but is just 4-6 away from Hill Field House this season.
MSU returns three Preseason All-MEAC selections in senior guard Ja'Niah Henson (15.0 PPG, 2.4 SPG, 2.3 APG), fifth-year forward Taylor Addison (6.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.5 SPG) and fifth-year forward Charlene Shepherd (14.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.4 SPG).
In the league, Henson is third in scoring and fourth in steals while Shepherd is fourth in scoring, third in rebounding and second in steals.
The Bears are 16-5 all-time against NCCU, including 15-5 in NCCU's modern era. Shepherd scored a game-high 26 points and must missed a double-double with nine rebounds in MSU's 10-point victory over the Eagles on Jan. 7.
COPPIN STATE BENCH:
The Coppin State Eagles secured a narrow 64-63 home win over Delaware State to snap a four-game losing streak on Monday. CSU (5-16 Overall, 2-4 MEAC) will play at South Carolina State on Saturday before arriving to Durham for its showdown with NCCU on Monday.
Sophomore wing Jewel Watkins (15.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.0 SPG) and junior guard Mossi Staples (13.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.9 SPG) enter the week ranked second and fifth in the MEAC in scoring, respectively. Staples and senior center Jalynda Salley (6.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 0.9 BPG) are both Preseason All-MEAC selections.
Sophomore Hope Evans has moved into a starting position this season and is third on the team with 7.4 points per game and sixth in the MEAC with 2.7 assists per game. Classmate Colleen Bucknor (5.6 PPG) is fourth in the MEAC with 7.2 rebounds per game.
Fifth-year guard Jaia Alexander, who started her collegiate career with stints at Clemson and Butler, is the reigning MEAC Player of the Year and 2022-23 MEAC Preseason Player of the Year. However, Alexander has not played this season yet.
Staples averaged 17.0 points per game in the 2022-23 season series sweep of NCCU and then tallied 26 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in CSU's five-point win over the NCCU Eagles on Jan. 9 this season. Coppin State is 11-6 all-time against NC Central.
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