Akeena Lyons of Pinetops said it was a lucky feeling that led her to buy a Carolina Cash 5 ticket with the winning numbers for a $121,142 jackpot.

“You’ve heard the saying, when your hand itches,” said Lyons. “I just felt lucky that day.”

On Wednesday, Nov. 4, Lyons bought a $1 Quick Pick ticket at Sal’s Korner on Hamlet Street in Pinetops. Later that night, she sat with her mother, father and daughter and watched the Cash 5 drawing on WITN-TV in Greenville. When the winning numbers were announced, a celebration began.

“I was hollering,” Lyons recalled. “They were trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was excited.”

Lyons, a certified nursing assistant, said she plans to use her prize money for savings and to support her parents and family. “Help my family, the ones who’ve helped me,” she said. After federal and state tax withholdings, Lyons received $83,891.

Monday night’s Cash 5 jackpot is $163,000.

Ticket sales made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. For details on how $20.8 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Edgecombe County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.