Bears Use Late Run to Eliminate NCCU in the Quarterfinals

A jumper by graduate student Necole Hope put the North Carolina Central University women’s basketball team up two points with just over four minutes to play before Morgan State University scored the next 11 points unanswered to rally for 74-64 win in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Air Force Reserve MEAC Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon inside the Norfolk Scope Arena.

The Bears, who were the second seed from the Northern Division, outscored the third-seeded Eagles from the Southern Division by a 16-4 margin in the final three and a half minutes to advance. Morgan State (12-3 Overall) will next play North Carolina A&T State University in the semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m.

NCCU ended its season with a 4-12 record.

Sophomore forward Anissa Rivera led the Eagles with game-high totals of 22 points and 15 rebounds. The 2021 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year finished her season with nine double-doubles in 16 games.

Freshman guard Paris McBride followed with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Hope and junior Kiyana Brown both added 11 points. Hope also paced all players with five steals. Senior Faith Williams swished a pair of 3-pointers for six points in her final game.

The Eagles led for most of the first half with Rivera recording 16 points before the intermission on 6-of-7 precision from the field. Two consecutive 3-pointers by Rivera gave NCCU its largest lead of 12-4. Rivera then made her third 3-pointer of the half to keep the Eagles ahead 19-15.

However, Morgan State ended the second quarter on a 19-9 to take a 34-28 lead at the midway point. Sophomore Ja’Niah Henson paced the Bears into the locker room with 10 points and a made 3-pointer by senior Dahnye Redd just before the halftime buzzer capped the run. MSU made five shots from behind the arc in the first half.

The Bears maintained a slim lead throughout the third quarter, but nine points by Brown in the period helped the Eagles cut the deficit to 50-48 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

After NCCU was able to level the score five times in the fourth quarter, Hope bucketed a basket at the 4:09 mark to give the Eagles their only lead of the half at 60-58.

Morgan State responded by scoring 11 unanswered points by five different players to steal the contest late. NCCU was held without a made field goal for nearly four minutes until Williams made her second 3-pointer in the final moments.

The Eagles missed six consecutive shots during that late MSU run to end their chances at winning a quarterfinals game for a second straight season.

Henson led the victors with 19 points. Senior Jayla Atmore played all 10 minutes in the fourth quarter and led the Bears with six points in the final frame to finish with 13 points. Redd registered 11 points and junior Ashia McCalla tallied 10 points.