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Sports

NCCU WBB struggles on the road at Norfolk State

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

NORFOLK, Va. – Junior forward Morgan Callahan notched team-high totals of 17 points and eight rebounds for the North Carolina Central University women’s basketball team, but host Norfolk State University used a strong second half to pull away to a 72-44 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory on Monday evening.

Callahan once again shot over 50 percent from the field on the way to her 17-point performance. She also filled up the box score with eight rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block before fouling out.

Fellow redshirt junior forward Aniya Finger was the only other Eagle to score in double digits, depositing 14 points. Callahan and Finger were the only two NCCU players to make more than one basket in the contest as the Eagles were held to 31.3 percent shooting for the game as a team despite Callahan and Finger firing at 55 percent clip.

NC Central led after the first quarter (13-11) and was within two possessions of the league leader at halftime (27-21), before the Spartans outscored the Eagles by 22 points (45-23) in the second half.

Norfolk State (19-5 Overall, 8-1 MEAC) remained in sole possession of first place in the conference standings with its seventh straight win. NC State transfer point guard Diamond Johnson scored a game-high 20 points while forward Kierra Wheeler just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Eagles were held to just two made field goals in the decisive third quarter that the Spartans more than doubled up NCCU by a 25-12 mark. The defending champs completed the season series sweep after out-rebounding NCCU 45-37 and making seven 3-pointers to just two treys by the Eagles.

Senior Tippy Robertson paced the maroon and gray with four assists while adding five points and six rebounds.

NC Central (12-12, 6-3) will try and bounce back when the Eagles host University of Maryland Eastern Shore on NCCU’s Senior Day. The Eagles and Hawks will tipoff inside McDougald-McLendon Arena at 2 p.m. with fans encouraged to arrive early for the Senior Day ceremony that will take place during pregame announcements.