MEAC Women’s Basketball Recap – Feb. 26
Delaware State 75, N.C. Central 64 OT
Norfolk State 79, Morgan State 49
Howard 76, Coppin State 73
Md. Eastern Shore 67, S.C. State 51
Delaware State 75, N.C. Central 64 OT
DURHAM, N.C. – After fighting back to force overtime, the hosting Eagles fell by 11 points to the Hornets of Delaware State in Monday night MEAC action.
The first quarter was nearly neck-and-neck with DSU holding a narrow two-point lead, 16-14, after the first ten minutes of play. The Hornets pulled away in the second opening up an eight-point lead at the half, 33-25, following a17-11 second quarter run.
N.C. Central came out of the break to score 22 points while holding DSU to 15 closing the point spread to one point, 48-47. The Eagles evened things up at the end of the fourth to force overtime after scoring 14 points while allowing 13. The Hornets came alive in overtime outscoring the Eagles 14-3 to claim the 75-64 victory.
DSU was led by Denijsha Wilson with 21 points while Ja-Naiah Perkins-Jackson contributed 16. Savannah Brooks added 11 points to round out the top scorers while McKenzie Stewart brought down 18 boards.
Morgan Callahan was the lone Eagle in double figures scoring 16 points and collecting eight rebounds.
Norfolk State 79, Morgan State 49
BALTIMORE, N.C. – Diamond Johnson put up a career performance after leading the Spartans with 17 of the 21 first quarter points en route to a 30-point win, 79-49, over the Lady Bears of Morgan State.
NSU held a 10-point lead after the first quarter with the score sitting at 21-11. The Spartans increased that to 15 points at the halftime break after going on a 12-7 run in the second that put the score at 33-18. The third quarter was the tightest battle of the evening with Morgan State sitting within one point, 18-17, of Norfolk State but the score still favored NSU. The Green and Gold went on a 28-point run in the final 10 minutes while holding their foes to half that to claim the 79-49 win.
Diamond Johnson recorded a career-high 32 points to lead the Spartans, while Kierra Wheeler collected her 12th double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Wheeler shot an impressive 14-of-15 from the charity stripe.
Rookie Amari Smith led the Lady Bears with 11 points while Joelle Johnson and Jael Butler both added nine points apiece.
Howard 76, Coppin State 73
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite two lopsided first two quarters, the second half remained very tight as the Bison held on to claim a slim three-point win, 76-73, over Coppin State.
Coppin State came out of the gates on fire taking an early 21-11 lead. Howard responded in the second quarter with a big bounce back going on a 30-19 run pulling ahead by one point, 41-40, at the halftime break. After the intermission, the Bison lead the third quarter by two points, 18-16, increasing their lead to three points lead 59-56 heading into the final quarter. The teams were even in the fourth quarter scoring 17 points apiece as Howard held on to victory by the small three-point margin.
Iyanna Warren led the Bison with 20 points while Tyana Walker added 17. Nyla Cooper was the last Howard player in double figures with 10 points.
Faith Blackstone led the way for the Eagles with 16 points while Mossi Staples and Laila Lawrence both contributed 14 points apiece. Tiffany Hammond rounded out the top scorers for CSU with 13 points. Lawrence brought down 15 rebounds for another double-double.
Md. Eastern Shore 67, S.C. State 51
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – After a tight first quarter, Maryland Eastern Shore used a big second quarter to take a lead over S.C. State that they never relinquished.
The teams were neck-and-neck through the opening ten minutes of play scoring 12 points each. The Hawks went on a 25-12 run in the second quarter taking a 37-24 lead into halftime. Maryland Eastern Shore again outscored South Carolina State in the third quarter by five points ,17-12, but the Bulldogs bit back in the fourth,15-13, but it was not enough to close the gap.
UMES was led by Mahogany Lester with 17 points shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Mya Thomas was the only Hawk in double figures, scoring 12 points off four three-pointers.
Taniya McGowan posted one of her best performances of the season scoring 21 points shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) form the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Cassandra Colon rounded out the top scoring with 12 points.
