RALEIGH, NC - The Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central University by-passed Bowie State in the quarter-finals with streaming intensity.  However, NCCU’s fountain of faith ran dry as the Lady Eagles were delivered an 86-44 defeat by the second-ranked  Lady Bears of Shaw at the RBC Center. 

In the first half, Shaw and NCCU were tied on three separate occasions. The final tie was at the 12:22 mark with a score of 10-10 on a lay-up by Jessica Hawkins.  From then on, the Lady Bears would take a commanding lead that they would not relinquish. Senior guard Kiarsha Curtis moved throughout the Lady Eagles defense to lead all first half scorers with 12 points.

In the first half alone, Shaw shot 50 percent (17 of 34) from the field whereas the slow-to-flight Lady Eagles shot 21 percent by only connecting on five of their twenty-three shot attempts. The 21 percent field goal percentage was “closely” trailed by a 16 percent three-point field goal percentage as North Carolina Central made only one of their six three-point shot attempts. The Lady Bears converted all 17 of the Lady Eagles’ turnovers into points. Shaw closed out the first half with a 33-5 run over North Carolina Central and led 43-15 at the intermission.

The second half of play was almost an instant replay of the first half. The Lady Eagles exchanged a number of baskets with the Lady Bears until the 14:23 mark. After that, North Carolina Central’s scoring became few and far in between as Shaw pushed to their largest lead of the game of 51 points at the 3:49 mark of the second half.   

  Shaw’s offense was led by Curtis, who had a game-high of 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists.  Senior forward Joy Hairston contributed 14 points, while guards Jessica Hawkins (10 points), and Bilisa Perkins (11 points) had solid games for the Lady Bears.

The Lady Eagles were led by sophomore forward Cassie King, with 14 points. Other North Carolina Central contributions were made by Alisha Battle and Porschia Holmes each with eight points.

The Lady Bears have now pushed their consecutive CIAA win streak to 57 games and are vying for their third straight CIAA Championship.  Tomorrow, they will face the Lady Vikings of Elizabeth City State at 9:00 p.m. The Women’s 2005 CIAA Championship is scheduled to broadcast on ESPNU.  Shaw University won both regular season contests against the Lady Vikings by an average of 34 points.