NCCU Eagles WBB Tianna Carter Diamond Thomas Record defense Spectacular Magazine
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Eagles Get Record 30 Steals, NCCU Routs St. Andrews

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University Eagles women’s basketball team made over half of its shot attempts and stole the ball a modern-era record 30 times in coasting to a 96-29 non-conference home win over St. Andrews University on Monday evening in McDougald-McLendon Arena.

All eight active Eagles scored at least six points and made at least one steal. A half dozen maroon and gray players reached double-digit scoring totals.

Freshman Diamond Thomas posted double figures for an eighth consecutive game and led NCCU with 20 points. Junior Kira Lowery extended her streak of eclipsing the 10-plus point plateau for a fifth straight outing, bucketing 14 points on 75-percent precision from the floor. Lowery also orchestrated NCCU’s offense with a season-high nine assists, which is the fourth most in the program’s modern era. Sophomore Tianna Carter recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior Ashlyn Lockard netted 12 points while the quartet of sophomore Paris McBride (13 points), junior Madalyn Anderson (10 points), sophomore Taylor Williams (8 points), and junior Simone Edmundson (6 points) all had season-high point totals.

NCCU (3-14 Overall) shot 52-percent from the field, which is its best marksmanship on the campaign.

After a sluggish first period, NCCU outscored the Knights 33-4 in the second quarter to pull away to a 47-14 halftime lead. The Eagles shot 61.9-percent in the period and Lowery made six of her first seven first shot attempts to lead the hosts into the break with 13 of her 14 points.

NCCU also dominated play in the final two quarters by margins of 25-8 and 24-7 on the way to the 67-point victory, matching a modern era 101-34 margin of victory win over Johnson & Wales University in December.

The Eagles DI-era record-setting 30 steals featured six thefts by Carter and five swipes each by Thomas, Williams, and Lowery.

NC Central will next travel to Baltimore, Maryland, to play MEAC tilts against Morgan State University (Saturday, 4 PM) and Coppin State University (Monday, 4 PM).