Kinston’s Quiaira Powell drives through the lane past Eastern Wayne’s Myesha Best during Thursday’s contest. Photo by William “Bud” Hardy / Neuse News

Kinston has continued to roll in the regular season.

The Vikings defeated Eastern Wayne 68-46 Thursday, winning their 20th consecutive non-tournament or playoff contest. The win over the Warriors (1-2) was the 11th in the streak by 20 or more and although Eastern Wayne was able to hang in for a quarter, Kinston (2-0) was able to roll from there.

“We’re a team built for depth,” Kinston coach Christopher Bradshaw said. “We have the ability to bring in girls off the bench fresh and the shots that may have gone in early are harder to make because the other team can get tired. We didn’t change much between halves — we just wanted to maintain our defensive pressure.”

The first quarter featured four lead changes and three ties, with Eastern Wayne taking a 9-7 lead after a Taniyah Oates basket with 3:17 to go in the first. The Vikings would hold the Warriors scoreless for the next 5:58, closing out the quarter with free throws from Alena Rivers and Kahlia Hargett before Zykia Andrews hit a 3-pointer as time expired for the 13-9 advantage. Kinston would score 13 straight before Ziomara Williams broke the Eastern Wayne drought, but the Vikings kept rolling. Andrews hit another 3-pointer to end the second quarter to give Kinston its biggest lead at 31-14 heading to intermission.

“When I hit that shot, I knew it gave the team a lot of confidence and got everyone hype,” Andrews said. “Hitting a three can really change the momentum of a game and from there it’s smooth sailing.”

Kinston would hit 10 3-pointers in the game, including six in the second half. Michyla Dove hit a pair of perimeter shots and scored inside during the first four minutes of the third quarter to put Kinston ahead 43-22 and Eastern Wayne wouldn’t get closer than 12 the rest of the way.

“At first, I felt like I wasn’t doing my job because I missed a couple of shots early and got down on myself,” Dove said. “The coaches were telling me to keep my head up, my teammates said the same thing and after that, it was pretty much ‘cash.’”

The Vikings’ next matchup will be Wednesday against Greenville Rose.

KINSTON 68, EASTERN WAYNE 46

EW         9              5              19           13 — 46

K             13           18           16           21 — 68

EASTERN WAYNE — Nyesha Best 11, Oates 9, Williams 8, M. Best 7, Mills 5, Ward 4, Smith 2

KINSTON — Michyla Dove 17, Anzaryia Cobb 10, Andrews 9, Lee 8, Powell 6, Hargett 6, Rivers 4, S. Jones 4, T. Jones 2, Baker 2

Fouled out: None.

Technical fouls: None.

Three-pointers: EW — M. Best, Oates, Ward, Mills. K — Dove 3, Andrews 3, Lee 2, Rivers, S. Jones