Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jalessa Sams had 20 points and seven rebounds as the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season champion, routed Norfolk State 93-60 on Thursday night at the Corbett Sports Center.

The Lady Aggies (23-6, 15-1 MEAC), who clinched the MEAC regular-season title last week with a win over Howard, shot 52.9 percent for the game (37-of-70), outrebounded NSU 47-34, and had four players in double figures.

NSU (5-22, 1-15) kept it close for most of the first half. The Spartans took a 17-15 lead on a layup by reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week, Danelle Tate (Stafford, Va.), but A&T took the lead on three consecutive buckets to go up 21-17 with 8:31 left in the half.

Another Tate layup brought NSU within two, 23-21, at the 6:54 mark, but the Lady Aggies turned up the defense and limited the Spartans to just four points for the remainder of the half, taking a 45-25 lead into the break.

NSU's 20-point deficit heading into the second half proved to be too much as the Spartans could get no closer than 18, 47-29, the rest of the way.

Tate led the Spartan effort with 14 points and had six rebounds and three steals in a career-high tying 39 minutes. Genor Dalton (Martinsville, Va.) had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Ebony Gibbs (Petersburg, Va.) had nine points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Mo'Nique Redhead (Toronto, Ontario) scored a career-high eight points.

NSU finished the regular season in 11th place and will get the 11th seed in next week's MEAC Tournament. The Spartans will play sixth-seeded Morgan State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.