North Carolina Central hosts Howard after Finger's 21-point game

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Howard Bison (12-7, 2-1 MEAC) at North Carolina Central Eagles (3-13, 0-3 MEAC)

Durham, North Carolina; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: North Carolina Central hosts Howard after Aniya Finger scored 21 points in North Carolina Central's 77-70 loss to the Coppin State Eagles.

The Eagles have gone 2-5 at home. North Carolina Central ranks eighth in the MEAC in team defense, allowing 74.9 points while holding opponents to 42.1% shooting.

The Bison have gone 2-1 against MEAC opponents. Howard is 3-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.

North Carolina Central scores 60.8 points per game, 2.4 fewer points than the 63.2 Howard allows. Howard's 39.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.0 percentage points lower than North Carolina Central has given up to its opponents (42.1%).

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Najah Lane is averaging 6.6 points, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals for the Eagles. Morgan Callahan is averaging 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 46.3% over the last 10 games.

Ariella Henigan is averaging 7.9 points for the Bison. Zennia Thomas is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Eagles: 2-8, averaging 62.3 points, 30.9 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 12.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 36.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 points per game.

Bison: 6-4, averaging 64.0 points, 29.6 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 9.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 40.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.