HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team matched its win total from last season and improved to 3-4 on the young season after holding off High Point (1-5) 63-60 Wednesday night at Millis Athletic Convocation Center.
 
Junior forward Kayla Roberts paced the Spartans with her third straight double-double. She scored 16 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds, while senior guard Jordan Strode recorded 16 points as well and grabbed six boards. Senior forward Khalilah Ali was the third Spartan in double figures. She dropped in 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.
 
"We are becoming a team," Spartans head coach Larry Vickers said. "Despite not shooting well, we had 16 assists on 23 made buckets. That is a testament of how well we utilized our ball movement."
 
Norfolk State held a 17-5 lead after one quarter after holding the host Panthers (1-5) to two made field goals in the period. High Point was only able to trim one off the lead in the second quarter and the Spartans led 30-19 at halftime. NSU held the Panthers to 7-of-33 (21.2 percent) shooting from the field, including 1-of-17 from 3-point range in the first half.
 
Strode tallied 10 points to lead all scorers, while Roberts grabbed 10 boards to lead both teams in the half.
 
 High Point made several runs in the second half, but came up short in its comeback effort.
  
In a wild third quarter, the Panthers cut the deficit to two at 37-35 with 2:33 left in the third quarter when Camryn Brown made two free throws following a technical foul on Norfolk State's Gabrielle Swinson. She received the technical after reaching across the end line and making contact with the ball on the attempted inbounds pass. 
 
However, the Spartans closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run to make the score 47-35. Norfolk State took advantage of an intentional foul called on Brown, when she fouled Swinson, who had sprinted past Brown on the fast-break. Swinson made both free throws and Roberts converted a layup with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.
 
High Point opened the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run to close the deficit to 51-47, as Taylor McGlashan finished the run with a layup. Kaylah Keys went 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point line for the game and knocked down four straight during the Panthers run. She made her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 43 seconds left to cut the deficit to 63-60.
 
High Point had two chances in the final 14 seconds to tie the game.
 
McGlashan stole the ball from Swinson with 19 seconds left. Kat Harris missed a 3-pointer from the left corner, but Keys grabbed the rebound away from three Spartans. Her attempt from behind the arc on the right wing was too strong and bounced high off the iron and landed out of bounds just as the final horn blew.
 
"Despite allowing 25 points in the fourth quarter, that was our most complete game of the season," Vickers said. "It was a good to see how we responded when High Point continued to hit tough shot after tough shot in the second half."
 
Keys paced High Point with 19 points.
 
This is the first time the Spartans have won three games in the month of November since they won four during the 2011-12 season when the team won four-of-six. It is also the first time Norfolk State has won two non-conference road games in a season since 2010-11.
 
Defensively, NSU held High Point to 20-of-62 (32.3 percent) from the floor, including 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) from 3-point range. The Spartans also outrebounded High Point 48-40 and blocked seven shots, led by three from Roberts.
 
Norfolk State shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the floor for the game, despite struggling from behind the arc. The Spartans were just 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from deep. 
 
Norfolk State will travel to Farmville, Va., to face Longwood on Saturday at noon.