The Lady Eagles appear to have found their rhythm, adding two more wins in a four-day span, defeating the Delaware State Hornets and Morgan State Bears on Monday and Thursday.

Monday, the team secured a 58-44 victory over Delaware State for their third consecutive home win.

“We gon’ take every win we can get,” head coach Terrence Baxter said. “One day at a time, one possession at a time. And today I felt like we got off to a little slow start, but we eased our way right into the way we want to play.”

Everything fell into place for the Lady Eagles, as the usual problems that plagued many of their losses were absent in what became their most fundamentally sound performance of the season.

Ball movement was sharp, with clean passes creating easy scoring opportunities. The team improved its ball handling, finishing with fewer than 20 turnovers, and made 17 of 24 free throws (70.8 percent), a notable improvement from earlier struggles at the line.

N.C. Central held a 25-20 lead at halftime after an 8-2 run late in the second quarter and never looked back. Graduate forward Aniya Finger extended the lead with 12 straight points to open the third quarter, finishing with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Graduate guard Natalie Jasper contributed 13 points, three assists and three steals, showing her all-around impact. Sophomore forward Dianna Blake anchored the paint with three blocks in fewer than 16 minutes.

“At least for this game, I felt like I had to get my get-back because I didn’t really show up in the last game,” Jasper said. “I wasn’t my same self offensively or defensively, so I told Coach Bax that wasn’t going to happen again.”

Three days later, the Lady Eagles earned a 66-63 overtime victory against Morgan State.

The team opened strong, building a 19-15 lead after the first quarter while shooting 50 percent from the field. The Lady Eagles carried that momentum into the second quarter, outscoring Morgan State 22-11 to take control heading into halftime.

By the break, N.C. Central was efficient offensively, shooting 56 percent from the field in the second quarter and capitalizing at the free-throw line. The first half also featured a special moment, as Aysia Hinton was honored for setting a new school record with 12 3-pointers in a single game earlier this season.

Morgan State responded in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 19-9 as N.C. Central struggled offensively, shooting just 20 percent from the field. The Bears continued to chip away in the fourth quarter, holding the Eagles to 33 percent shooting and forcing overtime after a late missed 3-point attempt.

In overtime, the Lady Eagles regrouped and found enough offense to secure the win. N.C. Central shot 50 percent from beyond the arc in the extra period and held off Morgan State down the stretch to seal the 66-63 victory.

Morgan Callahan led the charge with a double-double, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 42 percent from the field. Amaya Harris added 10 points and two steals, including a clutch late shot that helped send the game into overtime.

After the game, Baxter praised Harris’ composure.

“Thank God for ‘Big Shot Bob,’” Baxter said. “I don’t know how she hit that. She was fumbling and everything, but I told her she was playing tight and needed to relax. She was rushing open shots. But one thing about her — when you can count on her, she’s going to hit the one you need, and she did that today.”

With the two wins, the team moves into fifth place in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference. The Lady Eagles return to action Saturday against Coppin State for Senior Day at 2 p.m. at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

Men’s Basketball

N.C. Central men’s basketball picked up a 72-63 home win over Delaware State on Monday, moving into second place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at 5-2 in league play and 9-13 overall.

Despite the win, head coach LeVelle Moton said there are lessons to take from the game.

“We’re happy with the win, obviously, but there’s a bigger and better and higher standard around here,” Moton said. “I don’t like our start. I didn’t like our intensity. I ain’t like our aggressiveness.”

The Eagles trailed for much of the first half, missing layups and open 3-point attempts. The Hornets built a 10-point lead midway through the opening half.

Near the end of the first half, the Eagles found momentum, closing on a 10-0 run to trim the deficit to 33-32 at halftime.

From there, N.C. Central found its rhythm, shooting 71.4 percent from the field in the second half and outscoring Delaware State 40-30. Senior center Khouri Carvey came off the bench to score 21 points.

“[I] told my team, ‘Yo, we’re better than this,’” Carvey said. “And we just started locking in after that.”