DURHAM, N.C. -- Morgan Jones scored 17 points and Kristin Askew connected on a pair of decisive 3-pointers down the stretch on the way to a 15-point performance to lift North Carolina Central to a 66-61 victory over visiting Furman Monday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Arena.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak by North Carolina Central (2-10) and halted the Eagles' 16-game non-conference losing skid.  Playing its final non-conference game of the season, Furman (7-8) fell for the sixth time in its last eight outings.

With the Eagles leading 56-55, Askew buried a 3-pointer with 3:42 remaining, and later, with the game tied at 59-59, the senior guard connected on her third trey of the contest to put NCCU up for good, 62-59, at the 2:04 mark.  Following a Furman miss, Tisha Dixon converted a layup for a 66-59 advantage with 1:19 on the clock, effectively sealing the game's outcome.

The Eagles, who entered the game shooting just 31.1 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from 3-point range, found relief against the Paladins' defense, making good on 25-of-62 shots (40.3 percent) and 6-of-17 3-pointers (35.3 percent), with Jones and Askew combining to go 6-of-14 from beyond the arc.

Dixon contributed 12 points and eight rebounds, and Dominque Adams chipped in 11 points to round out North Carolina Central's double figure scoring effort.

Whitney Bunn topped Furman  with 17 points, and Cierra Carter added 16 points and nine rebounds.  The Paladins made just 6-of-23 shots from 3-point range (26.1 percent) after entering the contest as the SoCon's leader from beyond the arc.

Freshman Kaitlyn Duncan contributed eight points and a season high nine rebounds while junior Allison Beasley, seeing her first action after exiting the lineup following a knee injury sustained at Georgia on Dec. 8, scored nine points.

Furman, which trailed 28-25 at halftime, grabbed six leads in the third quarter but was never able to build on any advantage and trailed 44-43 heading to the fourth quarter.  In the final period Cierra Carter's basket with 8:15 remaining put the Paladins up, 47-44, but the Eagles quickly erased it with a Dixon jumper and 3-pointer by Jones with 7:05 left that gave NCCU a 49-47 lead.

Limited to just four points, Holli Wilkins, Furman's leading scorer, converted a layup with 4:22 remaining to give the Paladins their final lead of the game, 55-53 lead, but the Eagles answered on the ensuing possession behind a three-point play by Adams that put NCCU up for good, 56-55.

The Paladins suffered 19 turnovers in the game.

Furman returns home to open Southern Conference play on Thursday against ETSU.  Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.