NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk State women's basketball team hosts North Carolina Central in its home opener for the 2008-09 season tonight at 6 p.m.

NSU dropped two MEAC contests this past weekend, falling 77-42 to Coppin State on Saturday and 65-57 to Morgan State on Monday. The Spartans are now 0-11 on the season and 0-3 in conference play. Sophomore guard Raychele Payne leads the team in scoring with 9.4 points per game, while freshman guard Marquilla Evans is the leading rebounder at 3.8 grabs per game.

The North Carolina Central Lady Hawks (5-13) are coming off a 67-59 win over Longwood on Tuesday. On the season, NCCU is averaging 51.7 points per game and is shooting 37.6 percent (353-of-940) from the field and just 18.9 percent (25-of-132) from 3-point range. Junior forward/center Jori Nwachukwu leads the team in scoring (17.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) and is the only Lady Eagle to start all 18 games.

Game Coverage: Ross Gordon will call the game for NSU beginning approximately 5:45 p.m. on WNSB 91.1 FM. Live stats can be accessed on www.nsuspartans.com. Follow the link for women's basketball, and click the 'Live Stats' link to the right

Game Entertainment: The Norfolk Express 12 and under AAU basketball team will play an exhibition game during halftime of tonight's game.