BY MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun
mpotter@heraldsun.com
Mar 2, 2005 : 1:00 pm ET

RALEIGH -- Cassie King has played some great basketball games for N.C. Central this season, but what she did Tuesday afternoon was the stuff of which legends are made.

And everybody at the RBC Center for the Eagles' hard-fought 84-79 overtime victory over Bowie State in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament agreed it was one of the most amazing things they had seen in a sports arena.

King finished with 59 points -- the highest point total in NCAA women's basketball this season, an NCCU single-game record and a CIAA women's tournament record. She also had 13 rebounds as she and her teammates extended her sophomore season for at least one more game.

But the soft-spoken 6-footer from Wendell and East Wake High seemed to take it all in stride.

"I really don't care much about [individual] records," said King, who went 18-of-19 from the free-throw line and didn't commit a foul or a turnover while being the only player in the game to be on the floor for 45 minutes.

"I guess the thing I'm proudest of is the free throws," King said. "We shoot about 100 free throws in practice every day, and it just worked out for me today."

King, who exceeded her previous career high by 27 points, had to fight off tough defense inside all afternoon as both teams played tenaciously without the ball.

"It was very physical," King said. "We knew they would be, especially [center Rachill Robinson]. She's a good player, but we did a good job boxing her out and keeping her off the boards."

King's performance ended the college career of Bowie State senior guard Allyson Hardy, the CIAA player of the year who tied the previous tournament record of 50 points in an easy win over St. Augustine's last season.

"It didn't matter to me that she broke the record," Hardy said. "I just wanted to win.

"But 59 points? Hey, she deserves all of it. That's what records are for, breaking. You can't really be upset at anybody. I'm proud of her."

Proud, but not as proud as NCCU coach Joli Robinson, who saw King preview her record performance three days earlier when she scored 31 points including the game-tying jumper at the end of regulation in a 76-73 overtime win.

"One thing I know about Cassie is that she's a team player," Robinson said. "She contributes to what the team does without thinking about herself so much."

King went into the game with 999 career points before surpassing about eight records and milestones of all sorts.

"I'll bet she didn't even know she was about to score her 1,000th point," Robinson said as King agreed.

"I don't read a lot," King said.

Perhaps King gets her modesty from her mother, Bernicine, who was at the RBC Center along with Cassie's father, Johnnie.

"I was watching her play and thinking, 'That's just Cassie,' " Bernicine said. "I never even look at stats until after the game's over. I just knew she was playing hard and had a good game."

King's teammates said they were just happy to be part of a win that included her historic performance.

"I'm so proud of her," junior center Shanté Collins said. "Oh my God, I'm so proud. I knew she could play like that, but to play like that for a whole game was really special."

Added junior guard Porschia Holmes: "59 points? That's amazing. I'm still shocked."

Former Elizabeth City State men's coach and current faculty athletic representative Claudie Mackey saw the whole thing from press row, where he is part of a committee to select the all-tournament teams.

"That was definitely one of the best performances in the history of our tournament," Mackey said. "She's just a sophomore, but she never gave in. She seemed to get stronger as the game progressed.

"And the young lady she was competing with for the record [Hardy] was in the game, too. Both of them are great athletes."

Added Shaw athletics director Al Carter, who coached the men's and women's teams in the past: "She was just in a zone. In overtime, she took over."

Freshman guard Karla Gamble said she wasn't so surprised to see King play at that level.

"I believe she can play like that every game, I really do," Gamble said. "She's our scorer, and we did what we could to get her the ball. She really has a lot of determination to win."