Final Stats

ELIZABETH CITY, NC- Elizabeth City State University overcame a double digit first half deficit to capture a 61-50 win over the University of Mount Olive Tuesday evening at the RL Vaughan Center.

ECSU ends the first half of the season on a high note, winning four of their last five outings to improve to 5-4 overall. Arieal Johnson paced the Lady Trojans with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds as Mount Olive slips to 3-6 on the year.

After Jadda Jefferies was fouled from beyond the arc, she sank three free throws to tie the game at 46 with 3:52 to go. On their next possession, ECSU took its first lead since the 17:11 mark of the first half on a layup by Breona Jones. UMO's Johnson then countered with a layup on their ensuing possession to tie the game before Jones struck again with a steal and layup for the go ahead score.

ECSU padded its lead in the final two minutes with clutch free throw shooting courtesy of Jefferies. Including the aforementioned three shots to tie the game, she was 12-13 from the charity stripe in the game's waning moments and added a score (layup) at the 1:24 mark that gave ECSU a 54-48 advantage.

Jadda finished the night with a game high 25 points while Breona chipped in with 13 for the Lady Vikings.

ECSU trailed by as many as 13 in the game (5:47 of the first half) and faced a 31-24 deficit at the intermission. Their offense sputtered in the first half at a putrid 7-27 from the floor, including 11% from beyond the three point arc (1-9).

ECSU finished only 18-61 from the field in the game however it was their effort on the defensive end that keyed the come from behind victory. The Lady Vikings forced 32 turnovers, a season high for any ECSU opponent. Their defense held Lady Trojans in check in the second half yielding a season low 19 points.

The Lady Vikings scored 36 points off UMO's turnovers and held Mount Olive to 32% shooting on the evening.

ECSU will return action on January 1, 2015 as they open the New Year and CIAA play against Shaw University at the RL Vaughan Center.