Ivy Harrington came off the bench to score nine points in the loss at N.C. Central.
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. (Jan. 27, 2014)-North Carolina Central's Racquel Davis drained a free throw to complete a three-point play with six seconds remaining, which proved to be the game winner, as the host Lady Eagles defeated Morgan State, 50-48 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest at McDougald-McLendon Gym on Monday evening.
The win improved NCCU to 8-11 on the season and 3-3 in the MEAC, while Morgan State dropped its 10th consecutive game, falling to 2-17, 0-6 MEAC.
North Carolina Central, which overcame a 10-point second half deficit, was led by Jessica Freeman, who finished with a game-high 20 points, while Davis recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Khyra Conerly finished with 10 points.
The Lady Bears were led by
Tracey Carrington, who scored 14 of her team-high 18 points in the first half.
Ivy Harrington came off the bench to score nine points, while
Dinah Jones added eight points and had a team-high seven rebounds.
Morgan State, which hasn't won a road game since Feb. 3, 2013 at Delaware State, seemed like it heading toward ending that losing skid when
Simone Sampson's jumper gave the Lady Bears their largest lead of the game (37-27) with 15:07 to play.
However, the hosts would use a 13-2 run over the next nine minutes, capped off by two free throws by Freeman to give the Lady Eagles a 40-39 lead with 6:14 to play.
Morgan State reclaimed the lead at 47-44 with 1:36 to play when Harrington drained a three-pointer, her first of the season. The Lady Bears still held a three-point lead (48-45) when
Danielle Robinson hit the second of two free throws with 57 seconds to play and clung to a slim 48-47 lead with 25 seconds left.
The Lady Bears had a chance to extend their one-point advantage, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, which set up the game winning heroics of Davis.
NCCU held a 40-32 rebounding advantage over Morgan State and outscored the Lady Bears 14-2 in second chance points.
Carrington, who was coming off a 13-point performance at North Carolina A&T on Saturday, began the game with a three-pointer, while scoring the Lady Bears' first 10 points.
Robinson knocked down a three-pointer to put Morgan State in front 17-14 and
La'Quacious Adams later followed with a layup to extend the Lady Bears' lead to 20-14 with 7:41 left in the first half. Morgan State would take a 30-25 lead at the intermission.
Morgan State returns home on Saturday, Feb. 1 to host Delaware State in a MEAC doubleheader contest with the men's team. Tip-off of the women's game is at 2 p.m., while the men get underway at 4 p.m. at Hill Field House. Fans are encouraged to wear orange in support of both basketball teams.
