RALEIGH, N.C. — Toia Johnson (Hampton, Va.) and Areya Walker (Portsmouth, Va.) led Norfolk State with 14 points apiece and helped the Spartans upset Maryland-Eastern Shore 58-54 in the first round of the MEAC Tournament.
NSU (6-23) advances to Wednesday's quarterfinal round, where it plays second-seeded Delaware State at 2:30 pm at the RBC Center.
Johnson hit a layup with 1.1 seconds left on the clock to put NSU up 56-54. UMES turned the ball over on the inbounds play, and Ashley Hill fouled NSU forward Tiffany Gadsden (Columbia, S.C.) with six-tenths of a second left. Gadsden sealed the win by connecting on both free throws.
“I knew I had to get to the basket somehow,” Johnson said. “I was not shooting that well earlier, but I took it to the hole, and my shots fell when they needed to.”
The Spartans kept in close in the first half. Johnson scored the first points of the game on a layup with 18:24 left in the half to put NSU up 2-0. Kristi Veltkamp hit the second of two free throws at the 17:57 mark to start the scoring for UMES (11-20).
Nadege Dareus (Miami, Fla.) hit a layup with 8:34 left in the stanza and was fouled by Brittany Adkins. Dareus hit a free throw to complete the 3-point play to put the Spartans up 18-13. Walker connected on one of two free throws to increase the lead to six, 19-13.
The Lady Hawks slowly chipped away at the lead, and a 3-pointer by Candyce Jeter with 2:47 left in the half tied the game at 21-all. A jumper by April McBride with 2:11 left put UMES up 23-21 going into the intermission.
The second half was a nail-biter right down to the end. Johnson tied the game at 23-all with a jumper with 19:35 left in the game, but UMES went on a 11-2 run, capped by a Qiana Cheatham jumper with 14:39 left, to go up 34-25.
The Spartans then went on a 14-4 run of their own with Walker scoring nine of NSU's points in the run. Walker's two free throws with 8:11 left in the game put NSU up by one, 39-38.
Jeter knotted the game up at 50-all on a 3-pointer with 1:22 left, but Johnson answered on the other end with a trey of her own. Cheatham scored on a layup with 14 ticks on the clock to force the ninth and final tie of the game, 54-all.
“We executed our game plan well,” NSU head coach James Sweat said. “This win gives us some momentum for our game with Delaware State.”
UMES shot 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from the field for the game, but committed 30 turnovers that lead to 23 NSU points. The Spartans shot 30.2 percent (19-of-63) from the field and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the charity stripe.
Walker grabbed seven rebounds and added a steal for the Spartans. Ashley Green (Chesapeake, Va.) scored nine of her 11 points in the second half and had three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Gadsden finished with eight points and two steals.
