DURHAM, N.C. – Jada Creech scored a career-high 16 points for North Carolina Central in a 96-57 women's basketball loss to Norfolk State at McDougald-McLendon Arena on Monday.

The contest was the season home finale for the Eagles, who are tied for fifth in the league standings with one regular-season game left. They visit South Carolina State on Thursday before heading to the MEAC Tournament next week.

Creech was a force in the paint, making 6 of 10 shots from the floor. She added four rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.

The 16 points topped her previous high of 12 points against Pfeiffer in January 2025. Creech has scored in double figures twice this season. 

"If Jada stays focused on basketball, she can be great," NCCU Head Coach Terrence Baxter said about his redshirt freshman. "She can be all-conference if she wants to be. She's nifty and quick, she's got great hands and she's got a great IQ. If she totally buys in to basketball, the sky is the limit for her."

Shakiria Foster added 11 points and Aysia Hinton chipped in eight points for NCCU (8-20, 5-8 MEAC). Morgan Callahan pulled down 10 rebounds and tied Jada Tiggett for a team-high three blocks.

The Eagles fell behind early and never recovered against the two-time defending league champs in suffering their third straight defeat. Hinton opened with a three-pointer for a 3-0 Eagles' lead but the Spartans reeled off eight straight points and never looked back.

For the second straight game, NCCU struggled in the second quarter. The league-leading Spartans outscored the Eagles 19-4 in the quarter to extend a 22-13 first-quarter lead to 41-18 at the half. In Saturday's game, Howard outscored NCCU 25-5 in the second quarter on its way to victory.

Norfolk State (26-4, 13-0 MEAC), ranked sixth nationally among mid-major schools, cruised in the second half to stay unbeaten in the conference.

Poor first-half shooting and turnovers hindered the Eagles. They shot 18.2 percent in the second quarter and committed 29 turnovers overall which the Spartans converted into 37 points. Norfolk State held a 35-7 advantage in fast break points.

"The second quarter stuck us again," Baxter said. "But that is a good team over there. [Norfolk State] is a good team all the way around. Against a good team, you can't have 29 turnovers and they score 37 points. Turnovers have been a thorn in our side all year."

Diamond Johnson of Norfolk State led six double-figure scorers with 19 points along with eight rebounds, six steals, five assists and two blocks.

Before the game, Callahan was honored for scoring over 1,000 career points in a win over Delaware State last week. She achieved the 600-rebound career mark in early February. Callahan is only the fourth NCCU player in the Division I era to amass over 1,000 points and 600 rebounds, according to the NCCU women's basketball record book.

"She is a great player," said Creech, who is Callahan's roommate. "I am honored to play with her."

With the MEAC Tournament around the corner, Baxter is not discouraged despite the loss.

"We just played the best two teams in the league," Baxter said. "We are 20 and 30 points away from them right now. We got the weekend to get ready and win the first round, then we can get to [Norfolk State and Howard] and worry about what to do. Right now, for a week and a half, we are going to work on not turning the ball over as much."