ROCK HILL, S.C. – The North Carolina Central University women's basketball team notched its first win of the season on Friday afternoon, closing with an 11-4 run to defeat Winthrop 76-71 in the Winthrop Coliseum.

The Eagles head into the holiday with a 1-12 record on the season.

Freshman guard Shakiria Foster led the Eagles with a career-best 21 points, going 8-for-17 from the floor and hitting four 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Kyla Bryant added 20 points for her second 20-point game of the season, to go along with five assists and three steals.

Foster has scored in double figures in her last three games, and four of her last five.

Graduate forward Morgan Callahan was also in double figures, dropping 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting and a 6-for-7 effort from the free throw line.

Freshman forward Dianna Blake led the way on the glass, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds for her first double-digit rebounding effort as an Eagle.

The Eagles shot a season-best 45.8% (27-for-59) from the floor, marking their second straight game shooting 40% or better, and hit seven of 20 3-pointers (35.0%).

With 3:16 left to play, Winthrop took a 67-65 lead on a layup from Ronaltha Marc, completing an 8-2 run. But Callahan stopped that run at the 3:02 mark with a pair of free throws to tie the score at 67-all, then a Bryant free throw with 2:23 left put the Eagles back up 68-67.

That sequence kicked off a game-ending 11-4 run for N.C. Central. A Callahan layup with 19 seconds left made it a two-possession game, before Marc cut the lead to two with a jumper on the next possession.

But Marc's jumper ended up being Winthrop's last field goal of the contest, and in the game's final eight seconds, Bryant went 3-for-4 from the free throw line to push the game to its final margin.

The game was knotted at 18-18 after the first 10 minutes, but Callahan hit the first two field goals of the second quarter to put N.C. Central up 22-18 at the 8:11 mark.

In all, the Eagles outscored Winthrop 15-9 in the frame and led 33-27 at the half.

The third quarter saw 10 lead changes and five ties, but N.C. Central headed into the final 10 minutes with a 55-52 lead after a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Aysia Hinton in the third's closing seconds.

Winthrop (6-6) shot 39.7% (25-for-63) from the floor and held a 43-35 edge on the glass, but struggled from behind the arc (6-for-23, 26.1%).

Olivia Wagner led Winthrop with 18 points, while Marissa Gasaway added 16.

N.C. Central will return to action on Monday, Dec. 30, when Furman comes to McDougald-McLendon Arena for a 1 p.m. tip.

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