NCCU Women’s Basketball Ends Season in the MEAC Semifinals

NORFOLK, Va. – The North Carolina Central University women’s basketball team fell behind early and was unable to recover, dropping its 2023 MEAC Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinal game to Norfolk State University, 81-59, on Friday afternoon inside the Norfolk Scope Arena.

NC Central outscored Norfolk State in the third quarter and pulled within 11 points in the fourth quarter, but the fourth-seeded Eagles could not overcome a 17-point halftime deficit to be eliminated by the top seed and regular season champions. The Spartans finished the game on a 16-5 run.

The Eagles, who were playing in their first MEAC semifinals game since joining the league at the start of the 2011-12 season, finished with a new NCAA Division I era program record for wins in a single season. NCCU finished with a 15-16 overall record.

Junior Tippy Robertson made a 3-pointer from the left wing for the first points of the game. It would prove to be NCCU’s only lead of the contest as the Spartans scored nine unanswered points to jump ahead for good. Classmate Kimia Carter drilled NCCU’s second 3-pointer of the opening quarter to pull the Eagles within two points, 11-9, at the 3:45 mark. However, Norfolk State then held NCCU without a made field goal over the next six minutes of playing time.

Carter and Robertson scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, to pace NCCU’s scorers. Carter scored half of her team-high points on a pair of made treys while Robertson distributed a team-high five assists.

The Spartans outscored the Eagles 12-1 during that NCCU drought to pull out to a 23-10 advantage and NSU maintained a double-digit cushion throughout the final three quarters. The Spartans extended their lead to 17 points, 39-22, at halftime and then led by as many as 21 points early in the second half. The Eagles were able to trim that deficit nearly in half to just 11 points on two occasions midway through the fourth quarter, but Norfolk State went on its closing 16-5 run to win by 22 points, which was the largest lead of the game. 

Sophomore forward Morgan Callahan flirted with a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds for the Eagles in the semifinals. Classmate Aniya Fingers matched Callahan with nine points. Freshman Jerni Kiaku chipped in eight points.

Norfolk State (25-6) earned a spot in the MEAC Tournament championship game for a second consecutive year. The 2023 title contest will tip off one hour after the conclusion of the men’s championship game on Saturday.

Sophomore Kierra Wheeler paced the Spartans with a double-double, producing game-high totals of 22 points and 12 rebounds in the semifinals.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.

Picture of NCCU junior Kimia Carter courtesy of Nick Sutton/MEAC