ORANGEBBURG, SC – Paris Alston tossed in 21 points, seldom-used Christiana Perkins came off the  bench for 13 and Tiara Knotts added 10 to lead SC State to a 68-57 victory over visiting NC Central Monday night in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Contest at S-H-M Memorial Center.

It was the home finale for the Lady Bulldogs, who got a team-high seven boards from senior Tracey Flowers in snapping a three-game losing streak. SC State climbed to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in the league. Coach Doug Robertson's team wraps up its regular-season schedule Thursday at Delaware State in Dover, Del.

The Lady Eagles were led by Lakisha Evans with 15 points and Blaire Houston with 13. Chasidy Williams  contributed nine points and an equal number of rebounds in the loss, which dropped NC Central to 3-25 and 1-14 in the MEAC. The visitors also close out their regular season on Thursday at home against MEAC leader Hampton.

Alston, who made 9 of 13 shots from the field and all three attempts from the line, had 10 points in the second half in which SC State scored the final six points on 3-pointers by Knotts and Trinese Fox, who finished with eight points for the Lady Bulldogs, to give the host a 32-29 lead at intermission.

SC State scored 12 of the first 16 points of the second half – including six by Alston and four by Knotts – to build a 44-33 edge with 15:44 left on the clock. Evans had five points during a 6-1 run by NC Central that trimmed the SC State lead to 45-39 with 14:33 remaining, but the Lady Bulldogs responded 7-0 spree to build a 52-39 advantage on a layup off a steal from Fox with just under 12 minutes left.  The closest the Lady Eagles came after that was seven points, 52-45 when Houston scored on a break-away basket with 10:11 left to play.

The Lady Bulldogs connected on 47.4 percent of its shots from the field and were 7 of 14 from behind the arc in the contest in which they recorded 21 assists on 27 shots made. NC Central hit 44.7 percent from the field but was just two of nine from three-point range.

The Lady Eagles did enjoy a 33-25 edge on the boards, but committed 26 turnovers to just 14 for SC State.
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