Box Score ORANGEBURG, SC – Racquel Davis tossed in 23 points and tied teammate Tiffany Gary for team rebounding honors as visiting North Carolina Central beat back a South Carolina State rally in downing the host 57-51 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest Saturday.

Davis was the only player in double figures for the Lady Eagles, who snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory and improved to 9-15 overall and 4-7 in the MEAC.
SC State lost its sixth contest in seven outings to fall to 6-15 on the season and 4-7 in league play. The Lady Bulldogs were led by junior guard Kourtney Williams with 15 points.

The Warren, OH native was returning from a three-game absence due to injury. Cabriel Duren added 14 points and Cherisha Floyd nine, along with a game-high 12 rebounds in the loss.

SC State, after trailing by 28-16 at the half, rallied behind the shooting of Duren, Floyd and Williams to come to within 37-34 when reserve Mykala Jones nailed a 3-pointer with 12:01 on the second-period clock.

But Davis, who had 12 straight points for the Lady Eagles during a key stretch, nailed two free throws and an inside basket for a 41-34 NCCU edge with 10:57 showing, then after Williams got a short jumper for SC State, made two more baskets as the visitor's lead went to 45-36 at the 9:15 mark.

Two consecutive baskets by Williams brought SC State to within 45-40 but a 7-1 Eagle run pushed the advantage to 11, at 52-41 with just under four minutes left. The lead for NCCA was nine – 54-45 – when Duren made consecutive baskets from behind the arc to close the gap to 54-51, but by then only 19 seconds remained.

The Lady Bulldogs had to resort to fouling and the visitors made 3-4 from the line for a 57-51 lead and the final margin.

"We started slowly, scoring only 10 points in the first 15 minutes of the game," said SC State's Doug Robertson. "We did a better job in the second half and got close but couldn't pull out the win.

"We really didn't want to play Williams, who is still recovering from an injury, but I gambled and put her in. She gave us some good minutes but she's far from a 100 percent. Floyd did a good job on the boards but we gave them too many follow shots and we missed too many layups."

The Lady Bulldogs return to the court Monday when they host North Carolina A&T in an MEAC doubleheader, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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