Box Score

DURHAM, NC—Erica Williams led Winthrop with 21 points and eight rebounds and the Eagles held off North Carolina Central for a 71-63 non-conference victory Tuesday night on the road.

Winthrop got the win despite having its post players in early foul trouble.  Schaquilla Nunn, who came into the game with three straight double-doubles, fouled out of the game with more than 11 minutes left in the contest.  Her replacement, freshman Ezinne Mbamalu, was tagged with three first half fouls and picked up her fourth early in the second half, but managed to avoid disqualification. Nunn only played seven minutes and finished with three points and four rebounds.

The victory evens Winthrop's record at 2-2 and improves to 6-0 in its series with NC Central. NCCU falls to 1-3 as it lost its third straight game to a Big South Conference opponent.

"I am elated with the way we responded against a ton of adversity," said Winthrop head coach Kevin Cook. "I'm not saying we played the perfect game, but doggone it, did we play tough, did we play gritty, did we play together. The bottom line is that we got out of here with a W, and it took a total team effort."

After leading by six at halftime, 31-25, Winthrop opened a quick 11-point lead to begin the second half after Samiya Wright drilled a 3-pointer and Williams scored inside to make it a 36-25 game, but just moments later, Nunn was whistled for her fourth foul and had to go to the bench.  With her out of the game, NCCU quickly cut the deficit to just four points at 36-32 after a 7-0 run that included two inside buckets from the Racquel Davis, the game's leading scorer with 29 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.  Without Nunn for the most of the game and with Mbamalu in foul difficulties as well, Davis and NCCU owned the boards as they had a 54-37 rebounding advantage.

Wright, who finished with 13 points, ended NC Central's run with a jumper at the 14:48 to spark a 10-0 Winthrop run which included a three-point play by freshman Jimecheia Banks, a trey from the corner by Wright, and a short jumper by Williams.  The Eagles outscored the host team 26-13 over a 10-minute stretch to take their largest lead of the game of 19 points at 64-45 with just 5:23 left.

Aliyah Kilpatrick, who did not start the game because of a minor injury, was forced to enter the contest early in the second half when Nunn was whistled for her fourth foul.  She responded with 10 points and scored back-to-back layups during Winthrop's decisive run. Mbamalu contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.

Winthrop finished the game shooting 46 percent (26 of 56) while NCCU was held to 32.4 percent (22-68) and connected on just 1 of 16 attempts from behind the 3-point arc. 

Winthrop had a chance to blow out NCCU in the first half after the home team missed its first 15 field goal attempts and did not score from the floor until the 8:45 mark when Racquel scored on a layup to trim the Eagles lead to seven at 13-6. 

Winthrop used an 11-4 run to take a 24-10 lead with 4:47 left in the first half on a layup by freshman Ezinne Mbamalu.  Zoe Vernon gave the Eagles their largest lead of the half with a 3-pointer at the 4:09 mark to give Winthrop a 29-14 advantage.  From that point, NCCU outscored the Eagles 11-2 to close within six points at halftime, 31-25. 
Winthrop's inability to convert free throws and Tisha Dixon's eight points in the final 2:22 of the half allowed NCCU to get back in the game before intermission. Winthrop was just 3 of 11 from the charity stripe in the first half. 
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they host Auburn out of the SEC at 1:00 p.m. in the Winthrop Coliseum.  Winthrop fans that make a donation at the door to the Lutzie 43 Foundation will be admitted to the game free.  The foundation was established this summer to honor the memory of former Auburn football player Phillip Lutzenkirchen who died in a July automobile accident.  His sister, Ann, played soccer at Winthrop and was a student video production assistant in the athletic department.