DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina Central has played from behind in its previous four MEAC women's basketball games this season.
On Saturday, the Eagles led the entire way against South Carolina State at McDougald-McLendon Arena in a 71-56 win. Obviously, Head Coach Terrence Baxter likes being ahead better.
"Our goal was to make them call the first timeout," Baxter said. "Most games we've been calling that timeout."
Graduate forward Morgan Callahan and freshman guard Shakiria Foster each scored 17 points and sophomore guard Aysia Hinton added 14 points for the Eagles, who captured their fourth consecutive victory. It was also the sixth straight win over South Carolina State with all six victories by double digits.
More importantly, the Eagles (3-2 MEAC, 6-14 overall) remained in the upper half of the conference standings. They are tied for third in the eight-team league with nine conference games remaining.
The Eagles won two of the last four MEAC games despite falling behind. But this was their most complete league contest this season.
"We have gotten a couple of bodies back, we are starting to truly believe in ourselves, and we are starting to hone in on the things we do great," Baxter said. "Like I said last week, we are tired of losing. We've been beat, beat, beat and beaten, and now we are playing teams we can measure up against."
Sophomore forward Jada Creech added nine points on 3 of 3 shooting off the bench for the Eagles as six players scored five or more points. On the defensive end, the Eagles made the Bulldogs cough up the ball 29 times, which led to 30 points.
South Carolina State (1-4 MEAC, 2-19 overall) could not stop the inside play of Callahan, Creech and sophomore guard-forward Jada Tiggett. Callahan pulled down nine rebounds and collected two blocks and two steals. Tiggett had seven rebounds, three blocks, three assists and one steal and Creech scored all her points in 14 minutes of action. NCCU outscored SCSU 40-24 in the paint.
The Eagles were also tough on the perimeter. Foster added six assists and four steals and combined with Hinton for five three-pointers. Sophomore guard Kyla Bryant, NCCU's leading scorer, only had five points but totaled five assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Shaunice Reed tried to keep South Carolina State in the game. She scored a game-high 26 points but the turnovers and Eagles' frontline were too much to handle.
The Eagles led 20-10 after the first period and never looked back. Hinton ignited the sizzling start, scoring six of the Eagles' first 13 points. She had eight points at the end of the period.
The trio of Callahan, Foster, and Creech and the NCCU defense took over from that point.
Callahan tied Hinton with 11 points and Creech added eight by halftime as the Eagles led 38-23 at the break. The Eagles forced 16 Bulldog turnovers for 15 points in the first half.
The second half was more of the same. The margin expanded to 18 points in the third period. Reed buried a three-pointer to pull the Bulldogs within 12 but Tiggett's layup and a three-pointer by Tierney Coleman gave the Eagles a 54-38 lead at the end of the third period. The margin reached 20 points in the fourth period.
Baxter says playing Pfeiffer on Thursday (a 90-55 win) attributed to NCCU's blazing start. South Carolina State played for the first time in 12 days.
"Last year we had this same break, I can't remember who we played in the first game but we struggled," Baxter said. "I made it a point this year to get a game in between this break. We got the sluggishness out Thursday night. South Carolina State didn't have a game. I knew if we could jump on them early before they catch their legs, we could get the game over with. We got lucky enough to do that today."
NCCU appears to be jelling at the right time. The meat of the conference schedule is coming up, starting with a Feb. 3 road game against highly-regarded Norfolk State, the defending league champion.
"We are playing better together and learning each other more," Creech said. "We are a young team but having the vets picking us up and leading us, it is only up from here."
