As Burr Gymnasium crackled with electricity, Nile Miller glided through it like she had noise-canceling headphones on.
The Howard senior forward swooped in like a hawk for a critical offensive rebound, absorbing contact without flinching. Whistle. Foul. Miller didn’t pump her fist, bark, or glance at the Norfolk State bench. She simply turned and strolled to the free-throw line like someone walking through Howard’s historic campus quad — calm and unbothered. The rebound had sealed a massive conference home win and snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Spartans.
Earlier in the quarter, the one in which she scored eight steady points, Miller pump-faked, let her defender drift past, and dropped in a short jumper with surgeon-like precision. No theatrics. No extended stare-down. She pivoted and ran back on defense, offering a quick, almost casual slap of hands to a teammate as if to say, that’s what we do.
And that’s just one pillar.
The other looms a few feet away, deterring defenders from even thinking about entering the paint.
Earlier in the same game, before halftime, Zennia Thomas exploded after converting an and-one. The Howard senior center screamed with the ferocity of a bull, her face twisting into a primal roar that shook the moment loose. She pounded her chest. She slapped hands with her excited teammates with force, the sound echoing through the gym.
Her energy baptized the possession and shot a jolt through the Burr and into her teammates. And it wasn’t new. She did it a week earlier, dropping a beautiful baseline turnaround jumper, the ball dangling briefly at her waist before she rose and buried it, thwarting a Coppin State rally. As the shot splashed through the net on her way to a 24-point performance, Thomas yelled to herself and clapped ferociously.
“She’s just a big part on offense, and a very good leader too,” Miller said of Thomas. “She brings energy on the court all the time. I just be overly hyped for her and go over and celebrate with her.”
These two are the pillars. One solid steel. One unfiltered fire.
Burr Gymnasium has seen pillars before. The banners overhead testify to them — reminders of players who carried the program through different eras, expectations, and battles. Howard women’s basketball has always leaned on strong foundations. This season, those foundations wear No. 24 and No. 25.
Black women in sport are often asked to choose between strength or softness, fire or restraint; at Howard, they are allowed to be authentically both. Legacy lives in the rafters, and Miller and Thomas are adding to it. Here, pillars are not optional. They are expected.
“We feed off what one another does,” Thomas said of Miller. “With her heavy presence on defense, it’s easier for me to go down on offense and handle my business. Also, because people pay attention to me offensively, it’s opened space for her. I think this season she’s more confident, attacking the basket and taking what the defense gives her.”
Miller will show her joy before she ever shows her edge. She’s dancing in TikTok videos, loose and laughing, spinning through pregame with the kind of light that makes the grind look easy. The smiles come quickly. The shoulders sway. She looks like someone playing, not carrying.
Thomas dances too during warmups, to the same music, with the same rhythm. But once the ball tips, something shifts. The smile tightens. The volume rises. The alter ego steps forward. She howls after big buckets. She pounds her chest. She meets contact with contact.
And then, just as quickly, the fire recedes.
After games, Thomas re-emerges from the locker room in glasses, looking like she just stepped out of study hall. Her voice is measured, her fury tucked neatly away. The roar becomes a reflection. The bull becomes balanced.
“Nile and Z are very special,” Howard head coach Ty Grace said during the MEAC bi-weekly Zoom coaches’ call on Feb. 23. “They are two unique players with very different styles of play, but they complement each other. I’m proud of how they’ve embraced that. Nile is really underrated. I don’t think she gets all the credit she deserves for how she impacts not just our team, but the game.”
Grace paused, then, with a look of relief and satisfaction, she continued.
“I’m just happy she’s getting her flowers,” she added, referencing Miller being named MEAC Player of the Week on Feb. 23. “And Z is continuing to be who she is. She’s putting up great numbers and playing well. She’s a great leader. I’m going to miss them a whole lot.”
In winning its first outright MEAC regular season title since the 2001-02 campaign, Howard ended a regular season to cherish with 11 straight victories. Howard opens the MEAC tournament against No. 8 South Carolina State on Wednesday at noon inside the venerable Scope Arena in Norfolk.
With 23 victories, the Bison have reached 20 wins in each of the last two seasons, the third time they’ve done so under Grace. They finished 11-0 at Burr Gymnasium for the first time in more than two decades. They cracked the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 early in the season.
Thomas and Miller helped power statement victories over Providence, Cincinnati, and Fairfield. Miller saved her best for last, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to help Howard beat Norfolk State, 74–59, in its regular-season finale to clinch the MEAC regular season outright. It was Howard’s first win at Norfolk State since 2017.
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Basketball, though, hasn’t always been smooth for either Miller or Thomas.
Miller was lightly recruited out of high school. She built her reputation as a backbone to Howard’s blue-ribbon defense through late night workouts, quiet persistence and a grind that did not need an audience.
Majoring in sports management, Miller slices in for steals that fuel Howard’s lethal transition offense. She is more grit than glitter and happy with it. In its home finale against pesky Coppin State, Miller encapsulated her value by scoring only three points, grabbing five rebounds, recording four steals, and blocking two shots.
“Putting my trust in Coach Ty and not complaining about playing time or questioning her strategies has really helped me,” Miller said. “I just tried to do whatever she needed me to do. It was hard, but I had to embrace it. Now I feel like I’m an extension of Coach Ty on the floor. I analyze what we need to improve, where our lapses are, and I’m more vocal with the team, making sure we correct them in the moment.”
Meanwhile, Thomas once didn’t know if she would ever play again after a medical issue nearly derailed her career. Before arriving at Howard, she appeared in just 10 games over two seasons at Kentucky. The recovery was slow, the uncertainty heavier than the rehab.
But her faith and family steadied her. She prayed. She journaled. She read the Bible. Those rhythms became refuge. So, when Thomas exalts after what others might label a mundane play, it’s important to understand the context. Her reactions come from gratitude. That’s why she treats every basket, every rebound, every blocked shot, every wind sprint like a gift.
Thomas has been playing basketball since she was 3 years old. She understands what it means to have the game taken away, even temporarily. And that perspective fuels every roar. It has sharpened her focus, fueling a season in which she leads the MEAC in scoring (15.3 points per game) and ranks second in rebounding (8.2).
“My confidence has completely transformed over the course of my years, especially here at Howard,” Thomas said. “Being able to put in the work, build on my game, and then show it on the court, that’s where my edge comes from. I feel like I’ve earned the right to be able to talk mess, flex, or celebrate just because of how hard I worked, and then just also being proud of myself from where I came from last year.”
Her growth has been both emotional and technical.
“My communication on defense has gotten so much better. I’m more alert and can let my teammates know what’s coming,” she said. “My preparation helps with that. When it comes to the scout, I really study what other teams run. I try to memorize how they set up and what actions come next. Giving energy and effort — whether on the glass or communicating more — has been a big part of it.”
Miller and Thomas have steadied Howard all season. They have carried the weight of preseason expectations that crowned the Bison conference favorites before a ball was tipped.
Howard didn’t sprint out of the conference gates. The Bison needed fourth-quarter rallies to slip past South Carolina State and North Carolina Central before falling to Maryland Eastern Shore during the first two weeks of MEAC play.
Outside the program, there were whispers. Inside it, there was resolve.
Behind Miller and Thomas, Howard kept playing, winning seven of its final 11 games by double digits. The Bison allowed just 58.8 points per game in conference play, third in the MEAC. They held 13 of their final 16 opponents to 65 points or fewer. Howard ranks 15th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense.
“Everybody expected us to come into the conference and blow everybody out,” Miller said. “So earlier in the season, when we were only up two or three points, we’d go into the locker room with our heads down — even though we were winning. It felt like a loss because people expected us to dominate.”
But trust wasn’t declared. It was earned in Sa’lah Hemingway’s game-winning layup on a well-designed baseline out-of-bounds play by Grace at Cincinnati, a bucket that delivered a rare December road victory over a Power 4 opponent.
Zoe Stewart bounced across the floor and buried timely shots. She was locked and loaded in Norfolk, scoring 14 of her 19 points in the first quarter to power Howard to a 23–11 lead, one that set the tone for the victory and allowed Miller and Thomas to impose their will.
Rayne Durant’s motor never idled. April Edwards slid her feet and erased driving lanes. Ariella Henigan scored 14 points against Norfolk State in the regular season finale while threading pinpoint passes and knifing into the paint to apply pressure throughout the year.
Destiny Bynum-Johnson and Emma Nuquay fueled an astonishing 32-0 surge in an early-season win over Florida A&M with pinpoint shooting.
“It’s been amazing,” Miller continued. “At the beginning, everybody was a little unsure because we had so many new pieces. We didn’t know exactly how everyone would fit. But everybody came in and did their part.”
Now, as the calendar flips to the money month of March, Miller is intent on authoring a different ending. Losing to Norfolk State in each of the last three MEAC tournament championship games has fueled a quiet fire within her. She has accomplished plenty during a memorable career. But one box remains unchecked.
Thomas felt that sting last season, too. Together, they are determined to replace that pain with joy and a trip to the NCAA tournament. And if that moment comes, perhaps Miller will finally unleash a roar. And maybe Thomas, the one who howls after and-ones, will simply stand still, wiping away tears as she remembers a road that almost ended.
Coppin State’s Burris in the right place
Sydney Burris was lost.
She had never officially visited Coppin State before committing. No unofficial visit, either. No posed photo with a jersey in the lobby. No guided tour through the athletic wing, pointing out the locker room, the film room, the shortcuts one memorizes once a campus starts to feel like home.
So, when she arrived that summer and first-year head coach Darrell Mosley gathered his team for its first preseason meeting, Burris wasn’t in her seat.
Mosley scanned the room once. Then again.
“One of our first team meetings, and she wasn’t there,” he said to reporters during the MEAC’s bi-weekly Zoom teleconference, still amused by the memory. “I’m like, ‘Where the heck is Syd?’ And she ended up calling me. She said, ‘You gotta remember, Coach, I didn’t come on a visit. I don’t know where this building is.’ I said, ‘You are absolutely correct.’ And so we had to go find her.”
Somewhere on campus, Burris stood outside the wrong building, phone pressed to her ear, probably laughing at herself as identical brick walls and entrances blurred together. But, of course, they found her.
She may have needed directions that day, but Burris doesn’t require any around the basket. Down low, her internal compass is automatic. A shoulder fake. One strong dribble. A soft finish off the glass before the help defender can rotate. She finds creases the way seasoned commuters find shortcuts. No map. No hesitation.
Her production this season for the Eagles has mirrored exactly what Mosley envisioned when Burris transferred from UNC Asheville.
Rebounds secured in traffic. Second-chance points carved out of contact. Quiet, steady scoring that stabilizes possessions when they begin to wobble. The same player who once needed someone to walk her to a meeting now walks Coppin State through critical stretches with poise.
That steadiness was forged long before she arrived in Baltimore.
Her path to Coppin State has been anything but linear. It twisted through a torn ACL suffered while playing volleyball at Panola College in Texas during the COVID year. Then came three knee surgeries in 12 months. Scar tissue. Early mornings in rehab rooms that smelled like antiseptic challenged patience. A full season spent watching instead of playing.
Basketball paused, but belief did not. After surgery complications forced her into a gap year, she restarted at Jefferson College in Missouri. Then came UNC Asheville. Then, finally, an HBCU campus in Baltimore that felt less like another stop and more like a place to exhale.
Each relocation demanded a reset. New playbook. New teammates. New expectations. But quietly, each chapter layered something sturdier beneath the surface. The double-doubles she’s stacking now are built on lonely hours with resistance bands, on film sessions where she relearned how to trust her body, on nights when doubt crept in, and she wrote her way through it in a journal.
“I feel like it’s been a journey,” Burris told The IX Basketball. “It’s kind of been a roller coaster, especially coming from last year. I don’t think my mental health was the best, so I guess I was fighting that at the beginning of the season a little bit. I’m so grateful. I’m just happy when my teammates are happy. I’m happy when we’re all producing, when we’re all playing well, and when we’re winning.”
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The joy is visible now. In the way she runs the floor. In the way she claps for a teammate’s bucket. In the way her smile lingers a little longer. And off the court, she is winning too.
Burris credits her parents, Sheila Loeffler and Marcus, for placing her in every sport imaginable, sharpening her competitiveness and pushing her to chase more. She points to her AAU coach for instilling confidence that carried her through the darkest stretches. An interdisciplinary studies major in sociology and psychology, she is on track to graduate this year, calling it the end of “a really long journey” and the beginning of whatever comes next.
And after everything — the surgeries, the transfers, the uncertainty — anchoring a five-game winning streak carried weight. Each victory felt heavier and sweeter, including the week she was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week after a 23-point, 12-rebound performance against North Carolina Central. This season, Burris has five double-doubles. She averages 6.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
It is less about the box score now and more about the sound inside the locker room. Music spilling from a speaker. Arms wrapped around shoulders. A smile that refuses to fade when the final buzzer sounds.
Once, they had to go find her. Now, when the moment calls, she is exactly where she’s supposed to be.
Norfolk State’s Kweti making a difference
Carmen Kweti did not arrive at Norfolk State seeking validation. Her résumé simply traveled with her. So did her belief.
A 2025 CIAA Defensive Player of the Year. The conference’s leading rebounder at 11.8 per game, a mark that ranked fourth nationally in Division II. An All-CIAA Front Court selection. She understood who she was as a player long before she stepped onto a Division I floor. And she never doubted she could compete at this level.
“I was sad to leave Virginia State, but it’s been a lot [of] fun, and it’s been humbling as well going to a higher division, coming to the MEAC,” Kweti told The IX Basketball standing outside of the locker room following a win over Coppin State on Feb. 28. “It’s been a ride, but it’s been great, too. I’ve been having fun all along. I’m just here enjoying my last few college career basketball games.”
Now, as Norfolk State prepares to defend its MEAC tournament championship for the third consecutive year, Kweti’s impact is settling into something steady and timely. Over the Spartans’ final four regular-season games, she recorded two double-doubles, her presence expanding beyond flashes into dependable production.
From the opening tip, you can see it.
The quick second bounce off a missed shot. The explosive lift that erases space between her and the rim. The instincts that allow her to anticipate where the ball will carom before anyone else reacts. Kweti does not chase rebounds. She tracks them, like they belong to her.
She leads the Spartans in rebounding at 5.6 per game, but the number only tells part of the story. Her boards feel like tone-setters. Possession changers. Quiet momentum shifters. She had 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 73-34 win over Coppin State.
March demands reliability. It rewards players who understand angles, timing and urgency. Kweti has already proven she can dominate a conference, and now, just in time for tournament basketball, she is showing she can anchor one.
“My role has only changed here in a way of shooting more,” Kweti said. “My coach [is] giving me more freedom to shoot the ball. He gives me that confidence, and I know my teammates do as well, so that all around, just everybody believing in me.”
Kweti’s family also inspired her confidence. Growing up, basketball wasn’t her first sport, but it quickly became the one that mattered most. While she was busy with volleyball and cheer, her father would take her brother to the local court, and those trips quietly changed her path. One day, he simply put a ball in her hands and invited her to join them.
That small moment — a dad, a brother, and an extra basketball — was the start of a journey that eventually led her from Virginia State to Norfolk State, where she’s now thriving as a key contributor for the Spartans.
She says one of her growth areas was being more coachable and receiving constructive criticism.
“She’s an elite rebounder,” Norfolk State head coach Jermaine Woods said to The IX Basketball. “We need that for her all the time, so we got to keep her rebounding the ball and keep her in the game. I am giving her more minutes. She’s playing with the two forwards out there to make it a little easier for her to rebound. Carmen has been amazing.”
Fortunately for Kweti, she has experienced teammates in Jasha Clinton, Da’Brya Clark, and Anjanae Richardson to rely on this week. The IX Basketball went in-depth on Clark in February.
Morgan State’s Butler overcoming obstacles
Jael Butler couldn’t help it.
When she reached center court during Morgan State’s Senior Day celebration, the Bears forward lifted her bouquet of roses high above her head and broke into a quick dance, a grin stretching as wide as the Chesapeake Bay.
Later, standing outside the Morgan State locker room after a tough 69–60 loss to Norfolk State on Feb. 26, she was still smiling as teammates filed past. This isn’t how Butler envisioned her senior season unfolding, but she still has plenty of reasons to beam.
Morgan State’s year hasn’t gone as planned. There’s been the challenge of adjusting to a first-year coach, long losing streaks and just five victories, including a 64–54 win over crosstown rival Coppin State last week (in which Butler scored 11 points). Yet when she reflects on everything she has endured, her response is still gratitude.
Everyone wants to win on the scoreboard, and the sting of a close loss didn’t disappear. But Butler continues to find victories of another kind. Against Norfolk State, she led the Bears with 17 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. She has scored in double figures 11 times this year and stands as Morgan State’s third-leading scorer, averaging 9.4 points per game. She ended the season with five consecutive double-digit scoring games.
“My effort tonight was composed, poised and just playing my game while sticking to my strengths,” Butler told The IX Basketball. “Mainly getting through this year, even though it has been a hard year. … It’s my last year playing basketball ever. So why not leave it all on the floor and show what I’m capable of?”
Her career has demanded that mindset. As a freshman, Butler played an entire season on two torn ligaments in her ankle, delaying surgery until the year ended. Later, during her junior season, she battled through conference play with a torn labrum, once again postponing surgery until the postseason.
“I feel like I’ve just been strong over my career,” Butler said. “Whatever’s come my way, I just handled it first with faith and then the best way I could. God’s been so good to me. I’ve managed to do the things I’ve wanted despite adversity.”
Along the way, Butler still checked off major personal goals, including becoming a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., while continuing to evolve her game on the court.
For Butler, her career is not defined by injuries. It is about endurance. It is about faith. And it is about finishing. The California native will graduate in May with a degree in health education and plans to attend nursing school. The statistics will eventually be archived, but Butler’s impact will stretch far beyond Morgan State’s campus.
“It was special to have my parents at my last home game,” Butler said. “It’s always fun to play in front of them. It’s been four long years, so I just wanted to have some fun before the game. I have a lot of memories here.”
Delaware State’s Frierson finding her groove
Early in the season, Jermesha Frierson’s mind was already made up. The decision came before the defense even shifted, before her eyes surveyed the floor. Chin down. Straight-line drive. Three bodies are collapsing around her. But it didn’t matter. The shot was going up.
Now, in the season’s most urgent moments, Frierson probes. She slows. Head up. Eyes scanning. She snakes into the paint, jump-stops, pivots, and kicks. She drifts back out. Resets the possession.
When the ball finds her again, the defense is scrambling. That’s when she strikes. Shoulder past hip. A soft finish off the glass before the help can fully load. The points are coming more consistently and, more importantly, in a more timely fashion. Those extra seconds have become Delaware State’s edge entering the MEAC tournament, and the Hornets are carrying a quiet swagger with them.
“The biggest growth for Jermesha is just her confidence,” Delaware State head women’s basketball coach Jazmone Turner said to The IX Basketball. “When she came in here, she knew she was a good player, but just didn’t understand how she fit in a Division I program. Just watching her development, growth, and confidence these last few months has been tremendous. I’m really proud of her as a young person.”
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During Delaware State’s three-game winning streak over Morgan State, South Carolina State and North Carolina Central, Frierson averaged 13.6 points on 48.4% shooting. The Louisiana native poured in a season-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win over Morgan State.
Frierson, now the Hornets’ leading scorer, elevated her game after sophomore standout Mahogany Cottingham suffered a season-ending injury. Alongside Amya Scott, Ericka Huggins, Liliana Harrison, and Nevaeh Reaves, she has helped produce results that finally mirror the hours in the weight room, the extra shooting sessions, and the detailed film study. The surge is fueled by confidence, cohesion, and a team learning how to withstand adversity.
Down the stretch, she has scored in double figures in six of her last nine games. For the season, she is averaging 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. While her scoring has been timely, it is her defense and rebounding that have most impressed Turner. Frierson has recorded at least five rebounds in 10 games this season.
“She is a hell of a defensive player,” Turner said. “She loves to rebound. She’s a rebounding guard. Her growth defensively has been really good.”
Frierson transferred to Delaware State after spending two seasons at Northwestern State. Turner credits assistant coach Donchaz Graham with first bringing Frierson to her attention.
Though her scoring numbers were modest at her previous stop, Turner saw on film how seamlessly she could fit Delaware State’s system. After a few phone conversations, the two quickly connected, and Turner says Frierson has been “rocking and rolling” with her ever since.
She never visited the campus. She had no walkthrough of Memorial Hall. She just had her faith in the vision and a coach’s conviction that she belonged.
“She is a caring person,” Turner said of Frierson. “She is somebody that’s for everybody. She’s for the team. … She is a real joy to coach, and a great human being to be around and to have in your camp. Great for culture. She believes, and she truly believes. She’s from Louisiana. She has those southern roots and that southern style. All she knows is to be real and to be honest. She’s just a tremendous person.”
The patience came with time. The belief was always there.
Guarded optimism at Maryland Eastern Shore
Maryland Eastern Shore finished with four consecutive victories to finish tied for second with an 11-3 MEAC mark. The Hawks earned the No. 2 seed over Norfolk State by virtue of splitting with regular-season champion Howard. The Spartans lost both games to Howard.
The Hawks are heading to Norfolk with confidence and young guards that can be electric and chaotic — sometimes in the same game. Sophomore Kalise Hill and freshman Jailynn Clayton are the future leaders for the Hawks. They have each enjoyed moments of brilliance this season. They have also caused second-year head coach Malikah Willis some angst at times.
During a dramatic 66-64 win over Coppin State on Feb. 21, Hill ignited the Hawks’ 23-6 burst in the second quarter with timely passing, poise, and tough defense. She struggled with pressure in the second half, which forced Willis to go to Clayton.
Clayton steadied the team in 26 minutes with three steals, a pair of assists and more importantly, no turnovers. Clayton is a 5’9 disruptor on defense. She’s low to the ground, quick, and relentless.
Learning that her value moves beyond the stat sheet, Clayton has embraced her role on an experienced Hawk team that celebrated five seniors last week. Her presence shows up in tone-setting plays: fighting through screens to contest shooters, knifing in for offensive rebounds, pressuring ballhandlers 40 feet from the basket.
“It’s been a constant battle with Jailynn because she’s so tough and wants to do everything for us on both ends of the floor,” Willis said to reporters during the MEAC’s bi-weekly teleconference on Feb. 23. “In high school, she had a bigger role, but here we really need her to anchor us defensively. She’s one of our best defenders and always guards the other team’s top players, so her role is huge.
“Early on, we had to work hard with her on accepting that role, especially around shot selection — nobody likes hearing, ‘that’s not a good shot.’ But we focused on honing her on the defensive end, and now that she’s accepted that responsibility, her impact is even greater.”
Meanwhile, Hill keyed a season-ending win over Delaware State — its quarterfinal opponent in next week’s MEAC tournament on Wednesday afternoon — with nine points, a pair of steals, three assists, and a rebound.
The Hawks’ five seniors of Dayshawna Carter, Lainey Allen, Ashanti Lynch, Dakieran Turner and Brianna Barnes combined for 52 points in a win over South Carolina State. They’ve each had major moments during the season. Nobody knows if it will make a difference, but the Hawks were without Carter, who was sick, in losses to Norfolk State and Howard.
Carter is now healthy, and in her first game back she scored 22 points against Coppin State. So, the Hawks are 11-1 in MEAC games that Carter plays. Her presence opens the floor and allows Lynch and Barnes the space to drive and grab offensive rebounds. Earlier this season, The IX Basketball went in-depth on the hunger fueling Barnes and Lynch.
The Hawks have never won the MEAC tournament or qualified for the NCAA tournament.
Najah Lane chasing a better ending for NCCU
For the second straight season, No. 5 seed North Carolina Central will meet No. 4 seed Coppin State in the MEAC quarterfinals in a battle of Eagles. NCCU is seeking a better result than last year, when it lost to Coppin State 57-48 in the quarterfinals. Senior guard Najah Lane is looking to help NCCU advance to the semifinals for the second time in three years.
NCCU head coach Terrence Baxter believes the steady play and improved health of Lane will be pivotal. Lane, who ranks third in the MEAC in assists per game at 3.4, grabbed six rebounds in the 66-58 loss at Howard on Feb. 21. She scored eight points in the regular season finale against South Carolina State.
Lane spent two years at Johnson C. Smith before playing last year at Delaware State.
“She’s the energy that makes us go,” Baxter said. “She tweaked her knee late in practice, and I was mad at myself because we probably should’ve ended earlier. She battled it for about a week and a half, but she’s healthy now. When she’s right, she controls the pace, and we’re a different team.
“She’s a great kid on and off the court. Coach (Turner) told me she’d work hard and do whatever you ask, and that’s exactly who she’s been. She came in as a leader right away. After not having a true point guard last year, having her this season has been huge. I’m going to miss her. She’s a joy to coach.”
Lane’s presence has helped NCCU rank 13th nationally in causing turnovers, 15th in free throw attempts, 13th in bench points and 40th in steals among Division I teams.
North Carolina Central also has weapons in Morgan Callahan, Aysia Hinton and Aniya Finger that could disrupt the MEAC. Finger (11.9) and Callahan (11.5) are the Eagles’ leading scorers. Hinton made a school-record 12 3-pointers in a game this season. The IX Basketball profiled Callahan in November.
South Carolina State looking to surprise
South Carolina State’s five wins represent progress under first-year head coach Cedric Baker. It’s more wins than the previous two seasons combined. The Bulldogs started MEAC play with a 2-1 record, which included an impressive road sweep of Coppin State and Morgan State. Unfortunately, beset by injuries and inconsistency, the Bulldogs enter the MEAC tournament with 11 straight losses, 10 of them by double digits.
Shaunice Reed is the Bulldogs’ second leading scorer behind Lemyiah Harris, who hasn’t played since Feb. 21 against Norfolk State. Ja’Siiyah Holmes leads South Carolina State in rebounding.
