CLEMSON, S.C. – The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team will be on the road again on Thursday evening, squaring off against Clemson University in Littlejohn Coliseum.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
This will be the second all-time meeting between the two teams; the last meeting came on Dec. 18, 2011, when the Tigers defeated the Eagles 68-48.
The Eagles (0-1) are looking to bounce back after Monday's season-opening, 92-56 loss at Georgia. Sophomore guard Kyla Bryant led N.C. Central with 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting, hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Graduate forward Morgan Callahan was the team's leading rebounder, pulling down nine.
The Tigers (1-0) opened with a 78-44 home win over Jackson State on Monday. Senior forward Tessa Miller had 17 points to lead Clemson on 7-for-8 shooting, while junior guard Loyal McQueen added 10 points. Junior guard Mia Moore was just shy of a double-double, with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
The Eagles were selected to finish fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) this season, a year after finishing third in the program's best season since elevating to Div. I in 2011-12. Callahan and Bryant were both selected to the preseason all-conference team by the MEAC.
Callahan was named Preseason Second Team, coming off a 2023-24 season in which she led the Eagles in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.0 rpg), ranking third in the MEAC in both categories. The redshirt junior had nine double-doubles last season, and she topped the 20-point mark three times – including a career-high 21 against Coppin State on Feb. 3.
Callahan, a Third Team All-MEAC selection last season, was seventh in the MEAC in steals with 1.8 per game and blocks with 0.8. Her .437 field goal percentage was also fourth-best in the conference.
Bryant earned Preseason Third Team honors after ranking second on the team in scoring last year, averaging 11.2 points per contest. Ranking seventh in the MEAC in scoring, she was also eighth in the league with 2.2 assists per game. A two-time MEAC Rookie of the Week, Bryant had four 20-point performances on the year – including a career-high 26 at Jacksonville on Dec. 11.
The Eagles are in their second season under head coach Terrence Baxter. N.C. Central went 16-15 last season and finished 9-5 in conference play, before advancing to the semifinals of the MEAC Basketball Tournament for the second time.
The Tigers are in their first season under head coach Shawn Poppie, who was the 2023-24 SoCon Coach of the Year after leading Tennessee Chattanooga for two seasons. In 2023-24, he guided the Mocs to a 28-win season and their second straight SoCon title.
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