By MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun
mpotter@heraldsun.com
Mar 11, 2006 : 1:05 am ET 

RALEIGH -- Cassie King couldn't have picked a much sweeter time to set the career scoring record for N.C. Central. 

But in a game that had plenty of bizarre twists and turns in the last minute, it wasn't easy. 

King finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 4 seed Eagles escaped with a 51-48 win over Georgia College & State University in the nightcap of the first round of the NCAA Division II women's South Atlantic Regional at Spaulding Gym. 

The victory propelled the Eagles (23-6) into tonight's semifinal against host and No. 1 seed Shaw (26-4), which will try to extend its 76-game winning streak against CIAA competition. 

NCCU also had beaten GCSU (17-14) in the season opener for both teams, 67-47 on Nov. 18 at Winston-Salem State's Gaines Center. 

"It's wonderful," NCCU coach Joli Robinson said of King's record. "Any time a player can do something like that it's good for the university and the women's program." 

King now has 13 double-doubles for the season and 35 for her career. 

"I feel excited about the record, but I'm more excited about the win," said the junior King, whose 1,608 points are one more than Monica Stewart ('94) scored in four years. "Coach gets on me all the time about running the offense right. I'm a scorer and I just let it come to me." 

The win wasn't pretty, but Robinson said she'd take it. 

"We're not complaining as long as we got the 'W,' " Robinson said. 

"We knew we have good post players, and we tried to go to them as much as we could tonight. I thought we did a good job." 

Porschia Holmes added 10 points for the Eagles. 

LaWanna Leon led GCSU with 17 points before fouling out with 4:34 to go. 

"I wish we'd made three or four more shots," Bobcats coach John Carrick said. "How many did we lose by? I wish we would have shot better [than 31.3 percent], how's that? 

"There's a rule that says you can't comment on bad officiating. ? We'll take responsibility for this. The officials didn't miss any layups or block any of our shots tonight." 

The Eagles shot only 36.4 percent themselves, although they won the rebound battle 44-35. 

Carrick said the game was probably more fun to watch for the fans than for the coaches, and his team turned the ball over 23 times while NCCU turned it over 25 times. 

The game was close throughout, with seven ties and 10 lead changes. The Eagles never led by more than seven points, and the Bobcats never more than three. 

The Eagles took the lead for good at 35-34 on King's layup from Holmes with 12:58 left They then stretched it to 48-41 on King's layup from Shanté Collins with 12:58 remaining before the Bobcats rallied. 

NCCU led 48-47 with 11.2 seconds left when Lisa Richardson drew a foul on GCSU's Lindsey Smith. The Bobcats' Cassie Miliner hit the second of the two free throws to tie the score, and then Natasha Bailey came off the bench to replace Richardson and hit two free throws for the Eagles. 

"I wasn't under any pressure," said Bailey, who had missed her first two attempts during the Bobcats' rally. "I'm a senior and that's what I'm supposed to do." 

The Bobcats turned the ball over with 8.4 seconds left, but then got another try when Nakisha Stewart missed a pair of free throws. GCSU's Smith was called for an offensive foul with 1.9 seconds left, and Karla Gamble then hit the second of two free throws for the Eagles. GCSU turned the ball over once more to settle the issue. 

"We haven't played our 'A' game against Shaw yet," said the Raleigh native King, who has never beaten the Bears. "We're just going to have to come out and play." 

NOTESThe Eagles also beat GCSU in their other NCAA meeting, a 74-62 result in the first round in 2002 at Mars Hill. * Robinson's teams are 4-0 in NCAA Tournament games on neutral courts.