NCCU Women’s Basketball Team Preview; Interim Coach Named

DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University women’s basketball team will take the court for the 2023-24 regular season under the direction of new interim head coach Terrance Baxter when the Eagles begin play at the University of Washington on Thursday, Nov. 9.

Baxter served as an assistant coach for the NC Central women’s basketball team the past two seasons, and he will be trying to build off NCCU’s most successful modern-era season last year on the way to being elevated to head coach. The Eagles won 15 games last season, the most since fully transitioning to the NCAA Division I ranks, and advanced to the semifinals of the MEAC Women’s Basketball Tournament for only the second time since joining the league in 2011-12.

Baxter has head coaching experience, posting a 36-21 record in two seasons at Catawba College. He also had a successful playing career at Pfeiffer University as part of a high-tempo, defensively-oriented system that involved using a lot of players. Baxter has plans to implement that style of play for NCCU this season.

The Eagles were the highest-scoring team in the MEAC, but they also allowed the second most points per game to their opponents. The focus this season will be more defensive-oriented and let the defense lead to offense.

NCCU will have 12 active players that will showcase this new system under Baxter, including four letter winners who started double-digit games last season.

The Chicago, Illinois, junior guard tandem of Kimeira Burks and Tippy Robertson anchor NCCU’s backcourt while juniors Morgan Callahan (Beach Park, Ill.) and Aniya Finger (Charlotte, N.C.) cement the frontcourt.

Burks led the Eagles with 11.6 points per game last season as one of the MEAC’s top 3-point shooters. Burks – who ranked in the top 20 of the league in points, steals, assists, and made 3-pointers per game last year – is joined by Callahan and Finger on the 2023-24 Preseason All-MEAC Teams.

Callahan and Finger provide the maroon and gray with a powerful combination in the paint that NCCU fans will, hopefully, see playing together consistently after they each have battled injuries over the past few seasons. Finger and Callahan both ranked in the top 10 of the MEAC with 7.2 and 6.0 rebounds per game, respectively, while each averaged over eight points per contest.

Robertson ran the point for most of the season last year and ranked seventh in the MEAC with 2.7 assists per game while also contributing 5.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.

The Eagles have a total of seven returning players from the 15-win season last year, including two more seniors in Kimia Carter (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Taylor Williams (Daytona Beach, Fla.). Carter missed the first two months of last season before averaging 5.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in league play, and she will look to build on that late-season play. Williams played in 46 games over her first two seasons with NCCU and is expected to have her most productive campaign as a senior.

Forward Sydney Avoletta (Sterling, Va.) joins Carter and Williams as another important reserve from last season. Avoletta played in 28 games and supplied averages of 2.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game.

The Eagles will get additional depth down low to support Callahan, Finger, and Avoletta in junior transfer Nijah Cunningham (Charlotte, N.C.) and freshman Jada Tiggett (Winchester, Calif.). Cunningham, who averaged a double-double at Catawba Valley Community College last season, will be relied upon to grab rebounds for NCCU. Tiggett will be one of NCCU’s two active freshmen in 2023-24.

Freshman Kyla Bryant (Salisbury, N.C.) will serve as NCCU’s other rookie, and she brings a strong prep resume to NCCU’s guards and has the potential to immediately become a starter for the Eagles.

A couple of other transfer guards are also expected to see good minutes in their first season in Durham. Junior Janiah Jones (Woodbridge, Va.) and sophomore Ray’ven Robinson (Minneapolis, Minn.) are proven high-scorers at the collegiate level, as they both averaged over 13 points per game at their previous schools. Jones has two years of collegiate experience, having played one season at both College of Southern Maryland and Richard Bland College. Robinson joins NCCU after one impactful year at Lake Region State College.

NCCU has two other players on its roster, junior transfer Tierney Coleman (Missouri City, Texas) and freshman Jada Creech (Charlotte, N.C.), who are both expected to miss this upcoming season before becoming impact players of the maroon and gray in 2024-25.

The Eagles finished last season fourth out of eight teams in the MEAC regular season standings and have expectations to finish at least that high or better as long as the smaller roster can stay healthy despite being picked sixth in the 2023-24 MEAC Preseason Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish Poll.

NC Central women’s basketball will open up against the Washington Huskies, with the season scheduled to tipoff in Seattle on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. EST (5 p.m. PST).

(Team photo courtesy of NCCU Athletics)