Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk State women's basketball team opens the 2009-10 season on Friday at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. The Spartans are lead by first-year interim head coach Debra Clark. Nine letterwinners from last season return, including redshirt-senior Tiffany McNair , juniors Raychele Payne and Danelle Tate and sophomore Marquilla Evans. Evans was named to the 2009 MEAC All-Rookie Team after a very successful freshman campaign.
George Mason went 4-26 in 2008-09 and posted a 4-16 CAA record, finishing 12th in the league. The Patriots, under second- year head coach Jeri Porter, return six letterwinners and four starters from last year. GMU defeated Virginia Union 75-27 in an exhibition game on Monday. GMU freshman Amber Easter led all players with 14 points.
NSU and George Mason have only met once before. The two teams faced off in Fairfax during the 1981-82 season with NSU coming out on top 57-46.
Clark is no stranger to NSU and the MEAC. She served as an assistant women's basketball coach at NSU under James Sweat from 1987-94, helping the Spartans win three CIAA titles and make three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament in the early 1990's.
Clark served as head coach at Florida A&M from 2001-08 and at Winston-Salem State from 1994-2001. Her teams at FAMU made three MEAC Tournament semifinals appearances in her seven seasons there.
Joining Clark on the coaching staff are her assistants Lashondra Dixon-Gordon and Kenny Edwards. Dixon-Gordon was a standout All-MEAC player at Hampton from 1999-2003 and an assistant coach at her alma mater for the last five seasons. Edwards was an assistant at Virginia Wesleyan during the 2008-09 season and spent many years coaching boy's basketball at several schools in Virginia Beach, Va.
Clark and her assistants will help the Spartans return to their winning ways of years past. They will lead the nine returnees from last year's 1-27 team and the three newcomers to what should be a successful season.
The following is a look at how the team shapes up going into the season:
BACKCOURT
Clark will have a very deep backcourt with the return of seven players from last season and the addition of one new player.
Leading the returnees is Payne who averaged a team-best 10.8 points per game in 2008-09. Despite missing six games throughout the season, Payne led the Spartans in minutes per game (27.4), field goals made and attempted (94-of-281), 3-point field goals made and attempted (29-of-105) and points per game against conference opponents (12.2).
“Raychele is a very versatile perimeter player with a great understanding of the game,” Clark said. “This year we are looking for her to build on what she did last year.”
Evans, NSU's Outstanding Freshman last year, also returns. The 2009 MEAC Rookie Team honoree led the Spartans in free throws with 65 and was second on the team in scoring with 9.7 points per game.
“Marquilla is a very strong offensive player who works extremely hard,” Clark said. “With the success she had during her freshman year in the league, she is well equipped to be a great leader for us this year.”
Junior Genor Dalton and sophomores Whitney Long, Tyisha Bridges, Shaneka Lee and Tiora Hackley are also back for the Spartans.
Dalton was hampered by a nagging ankle injury for most of the 2008-09 season, but still managed to play in 23 games. She started four games and averaged 1.3 rebounds and 0.9 points per game last year.
“Genor is a very strong player and a hard worker,” Clark said. “She will contribute offensively on the perimeter.”
Long sat out the first three games of her freshman campaign, but she showed her worth by scoring a career-high 19 points in her season debut at Old Dominion. For the season, she averaged 7.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game and led the team with 1.8 steals per game.
“Whitney is a very quick guard who will add depth to the shooting guard position,” Clark said.
Bridges was a pleasant surprise last year. She started 17 games as a freshman, including the last seven of the season and played 24 minutes per game. Bridges led the team with 1.8 assists per game and scored 5.8 points per game.
“Tyisha is a perimeter player with good size who will be looked on to provide outside shooting as well as perimeter defense and rebounding,” Clark said.
Lee and Hackley got a lot of in-game experience during their freshman year. Lee played in 27 games and started eight, while averaging 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game.
“Shaneka is an athletic point guard whose responsibility this year will be to run the offense,” Clark said.
Hackley saw action in every game last year and averaged 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. She had a career night at Howard with a 15-point performance last season.
“Tiora is a very athletic player and a good perimeter defender,” Clark said.
Joining the rest of the backcourt is freshman Recca Trice (Arlington, Texas/Juan Seguin HS). Trice averaged 4.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in 32 games as a senior in 2008-09. She helped Seguin HS to a 34-6 overall record and the Region 1-4A championship game.
“Recca is a leader on the floor who has great understanding and instincts for the game,” Clark said. “She is a solid on-the-ball defender with good speed and quickness.”
FRONTCOURT
The Spartans return two players to the frontcourt from last season in Tate and McNair. In 2008-09, Tate averaged 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game, while McNair recorded 2.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
“Danelle is very athletic and fast with strong post moves,” Clark said. “We will look for her to provide consistent scoring and rebounding.”
“Tiffany will bring experience and depth to the center position,” Clark said. “She will be counted on to provide offense and to rebound on both ends of the court.”
Joining Tate and McNair in the frontcourt are freshmen Marian Brooks (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge HS) and Batavia Owens (Norfolk, Va./Maury HS).
As a senior last season, Brooks averaged 14.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for Woodbridge. She was named to the All-Northwest Region second team after helping the Vikings to first round of the Northwest Region Tournament. Brooks was also a Group AAA Cardinal District first-team pick.
“Marian is an undersized post player who plays much bigger than her size,” Clark said. “She will provide added depth at the power forward position in the areas of scoring and defense. She is also a natural rebounder.”
Owens, the second-tallest player on the team at 6-1, recorded 6.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 2008-09, helping Maury to a 20-6 record and the quarterfinals of the Eastern Regional Tournament.
“Batavia is great physical presence in the post,” Clark said. “She is an extremely hard worker and with time, she will be dominant on both ends of the court.”
With this mix of experience and talent, Clark and the Spartans should be able to get the rebuilding process off to a good start.
