RALEIGH – For the second time in the past three drawings, a ticket sold in North Carolina won a $1 million prize playing Mega Millions. The latest win came in Tuesday’s drawing where a $2 Megaplier ticket sold at the 39 Pit Stop on N.C. 39 North in Henderson.

The first winning ticket was sold in the Tuesday, Nov. 6 drawing. The winner, Queenester Newman, claimed her prize on Tuesday.

Newman, a resident of Garland in Sampson County, plans to use her $1 million Mega Millions prize to make improvements on her home.

Newman said she “felt like she was having a heart attack” when she learned that her $2 Megaplier ticket was worth $1 million.

Newman also plans to use a portion of her winnings, worth $680,000 after taxes were withheld, to pay bills and save for the future. She purchased the winning ticket at the Piggly Wiggly on N.C. 24 in Roseboro.

To win a $1 million prize playing Mega Millions, the $2 Megaplier ticket must match all five white balls. The odds of winning a $1 million prize are one in 3.9 million.

Ticket sales for games such as Mega Millions have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.58 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Sampson County education programs received more than $20.6 million in lottery funds and Vance County received more than $12 million. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.