LADY TROJANS NESTED BY NCCU LADY EAGLES

The North Carolina Central University Lady Eagles took flight to Petersburg, Virginia to play against the Lady Trojans of Virginia State University. VSU misplaced the lead and possession of momentum in the second half to allow the Lady Eagles to fly away with the 72 – 62 win.

The Lady Eagles were first in attempting to total points on the scoreboard. NCCU’s #30 Cassie King misfired a shot to be #21 Erica Glasper’s defensive rebound. Glasper galloped down the court to find #24 Ravin Yancey. After Yancey sunk a jumper, she hit #52 Areyal Hall with a pass for the lay-in. On the very next play, Ravin collected a defensive rebound and found #10 Asheley Alexander accelerating ahead of the Lady Eagles’ defense. Alexander’s court awareness alerted of #21 Erica Glasper slashing to the basket. Glasper gently kissed the ball off of the square to put VSU up 5 – 2. #24 Ravin Yancey and #52 Areyal Hall hooked up again to increase their advantage to 9 – 4. #21 Erica Glasper had the opportunity to boost the score even more, but her shot was a fingernail short. #24 Ravin Yancey redeemed Glasper’s missed opportunity when #52 Areyal Hall grabbed an assist after Yancey knocked down the shot. At 14:40, and with VSU up 11 – 4, NCCU took its first timeout. The Lady Eagles were only down 11 – 15 after #3 Lesley Gradson drained a three-pointer five steps outside the arc. Then, Gradson drained her second and third three-pointer around 11 minutes to give NCCU its first lead 21 – 20. The Lady Trojans lassoed the lead back with #20 Jennifer Rhodan’s “you can’t stop me” drive to the hoop. VSU led 29 – 25 after #21 Erica Glasper took her turn to connect from deep and sink the free throw. The Lady Trojans were offensively and defensively collective as they cruised into half time on top 33 – 31.

 In the second half, the teams battled brutally until they were tied at 37 – 37.  The tie was broken by NCCU #10 Tabitha Hodge’s put back. However, #21 Erica Glasper yanked the lead back with her behind the arc twine tickler. For some odd number of minutes, both teams shot aimlessly in attempts of offense. After 10 minutes elapsed, the Lady Eagles began to flock away with a wingspan lead. Coach Evans’ pleaded for a full timeout at 6:40 when VSU trailed 53 – 48. The Lady Trojans niche for tallying points in the first half was found by #24 Ravin Yancey. Yancey launched a high-rise three-pointer that did not fall in until it hovered above the hoop for at least five minutes. Lady Eagle #13 Karla Gamble replied with her own three-pointer to stall NCCU’s advantage at 62 – 57. With under a minute remaining, NCCU led 67 – 61 and VSU took its second timeout to quickly discuss their approach for even quicker offensive production. It seemed as NCCU built-up a blueprint of their own with the Lady Trojans’ full timeout. NCCU maintained their point margin by having two Lady Eagles posted in the paint for defensive rebounds. Their retrievals would then be airmailed to one of the two Lady Eagles that were flying away upcourt for the fast break finish. This productive plan was unstoppable for the Lady Trojans as the planned was successful on a number of occasions.

Leading in scoring for the Lady Eagles was #30 Cassie King with 15 points. Other scoring was given by #13 Karla Gamble with 14 points, #45 Lisa Richardson with 12 points, and #51 Shante Collins with 11 points.

Leading in scoring for the Lady Trojans was #52 Areyal Hall with 15 points. Additional offense was provided by #21 Erica Glasper and #20 Jennifer Rhodan each with 10 points, and #24 Ravin Yancey with 9 points. Glasper led the assist category with 5 and Alexander recorded the most team steals with 3.