Jori Nwachukwu scored a game-high 25 points and added a game-high 14 rebounds, while Latoya Bennett tallied a career-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added 12 rebounds to lead visiting North Carolina Central (NCCU) to a 63-48 victory over Morgan State in a non-conference game on Thursday night at Hill Field House.
The Lady Eagles, who improved to 7-13 on the season, recorded their first victory over Morgan State in the series’ four meetings, while extending their current winning streak to three games.
If the Lady Bears (11-6) were looking for a way to motivate themselves against a NCCU team which improved to 3-3 this season against MEAC competition, falling behind 24 points (32-8) in the first half was not the answer.
Morgan State scored the first basket of the game, then witnessed the Lady Eagles score the next 13 points. The guests used runs of 9-4 and 10-0 to increase their lead to 32-8 with 2:51 left in the first half. The Lady Bears tried to make it interesting, closing out the half connecting on four straight three-pointers in part of a 12-3 run to20pull within 35-20 at the break.
A 9-5 run to start the second half got the hosts within 40-29, before a confident Lady Eagles squad used a 9-0 run to take a 49-29 lead with 11:49 left. Morgan State then scored the next eight points in the midst of a 14-2 run capped off by a Corin Adams layup to bring the Lady Bears within eight points at 51-43 with seven minutes to play. However, North Carolina Central would close out the game on a 12-5 spurt to earn the victory.
Morgan State, which has now dropped two straight for just the second time this season, was led by Adams’ 17 points, giving her 1,220 points for her career. Adams, who entered the contest needing 13 points to move into sixth-place all-time in scoring at Morgan State, surpassed Debbie Grey (1,215 points from 1985-90) on the career charts. Aaries Reed added nine points in a reserve role.
The loss was also the Lady Bears’ second consecutive non-conference loss at home and dropped the team to 6-3 overall at Hill Field House this season.
Morgan State again suffered from three-point range going 5-for-32 (16 percent), while finishing just 18-of-62 (29 percent) for the game. The visiting Lady Eagles shot 24-for-54 (44.4 percent) from the field and was 1-for-4 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. NCCU shot 14-for-25 (56 percent) from the free throw line, while the Lady Bears were 7-of-9 (78 percent).
The Lady Bears continue their three-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 24, when they host Beltway rival Howard in a MEAC game at 2 p.m.