DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman guard Kyla Bryant scored six of her team-high 23 points in overtime and junior forward Morgan Callahan tallied her third double-double of the season to lead the North Carolina Central University women's basketball team to a dramatic 79-76 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home victory over Howard University on Saturday afternoon inside McDougald-McLendon Arena.
 
Bryant accounted for six of NCCU's 10 points in the five-minute overtime period, including the only made field goal, to help secure the three-point triumph.
 
The Eagles did make 5-of-6 free throws in OT, including a game-tying freebee by senior Kimia Carter and a pair of go-ahead free throws by senior Tippy Robertson.
 
NC Central (6-9 Overall, 1-0 MEAC) was playing its first home game since November and the Eagles were able to improve to 4-0 inside McDougald-McLendon Arena on the season.
 
Callahan also had a monster performance for the maroon and gray, scoring a career-high 20 points while tallying season-high totals of 14 rebounds and three blocks. She played all 45 minutes and her third double-double of the season is her fifth career double-double as an Eagle.
 
Howard (3-12, 0-1) held the lead for most of regulation and first-half foul trouble by the Eagles helped the Bison pull out to a 40-28 halftime advantage. The Bison made 16 of their 18 free throw attempts in the first half (88.9%) as three of NCCU's eight active players were whistled for three fouls by the midway break.
 
Senior Iyanna Warren made all eight of her free throw attempts in the first half to lead the visitors into the locker room with 10 points. Junior Ray'ven Robins kept NCCU in the game, scoring all nine of her points in the first 20 minutes.
 
The Eagles kept chipping away at the deficit but needed five consecutive points by Callahan to finally take their first lead of the day late in the fourth quarter. Bryant then made a driving layup to put NCCU ahead by five points heading into the final minute. However, Howard scored the next five points to force overtime. Freshman Tyana Walker hit a highly-contested 3-pointer from the left wing to tie the game and NCCU's last-second layup attempt missed its mark.
 
The Bison took another potential game-tying 3-point attempt in the waning moments of overtime, but this time the Eagles defense was able to force an errant shot and Burks secured the rebound to seal the maroon and gray victory.
 
Burks finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Bryant added a team-high four assists to go along with her ninth straight double-digit scoring performance. Robertson and junior Janiah Jones both chipped in eight points.
 
Both teams ended up in foul trouble, but with NCCU having a much-smaller active bench the Eagles did a good job of only committing two fouls in the fourth quarter to rally. NCCU also took advantage of its opportunities at the free throw line, making a season-high 31 shots from the charity stripe at a 73.8 percent clip.
 
Warren finished with a game-high totals of 26 points and five assists to highlight the Bison.
 
NC Central will next host reigning MEAC champion Norfolk State University on Monday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
 
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