Watch Live | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - Already with as many wins as last season, the Norfolk State women's basketball team will take on North Carolina A&T as part of the first day of conference games across the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Watch the game live through the North Carolina A&T website.
About North Carolina A&T: The Aggies enter the game with the opposite record of NSU at 1-4 following an 89-58 loss to Charlotte Tuesday. N.C. A&T's only win of the season came against Winthrop on Nov. 14.
Jaleesa Sams and Jaquayla Berry provide the offense with 13.8 and 10.8 points per game, respectively, while Berry also leads the team in rebounding (6.2), assists (18) and steals (15). Four other players - Tracey King, Sabre Proctor, Mikala Scott and Alishia Mosley - all average at least 7.8 points per game.
Poor shooting and defense have doomed the Aggies, as they collectively hit 36.3 percent from the floor, including just 22.7 percent from 3-point range, while opponents have connected on 47.3 percent from the floor and 42.0 percent from 3-point land.
The Aggies are averaging a respectable 66.8 points per game but are also giving up 86.2.
Last Time Out: The Spartans opened up the home portion of its schedule with a 66-51 victory over Wofford last Saturday at Joseph Echols Hall.
Rae Corbo tallied 13 points, while Whitney Long and Sarah Daily posted 12 and 11, respectively. Rachel Gordon (7 points, 7 rebounds), Marian Brooks, (7 points, 6 rebounds), and Recca Trice (7 points, 5 assists) all added to the scoring column.
The story of the day, though, was Wofford's 36 turnovers, as NSU had a 40-15 advantage in points off turnovers. The Spartans also had 22 offensive rebounds and outscored the Terriers, 17-5, in second chance points.
Best Start in D-I: The Spartans began the year 3-0 before falling to Morehead State. It marked the first time NSU began a year 3-0 in the Division I era. The last time the Spartans won their first three games of the season was 1996-97, NSU's last year in Division II.
NSU also secured two wins in a tournament at the Comfort Inn & Suites Classic at Morehead State for the first time since 2005-06, when the Spartans got a pair of victories in the Carolina First Classic to open the season.
Ready to Surpass Last Year: With a 4-1 record, NSU has already equaled the number of wins from the 2009-10 season. Only one other time in the Division I era has NSU started 4-1: the 2001-02 season when NSU went on to capture the MEAC tournament title.
First Week Award Winner: Corbo was named the MEAC Rookie of the Week Monday in the first MEAC weekly awards of the season after going 6-of-10 for 13 points with two steals, an assist and a rebound against Wofford.
Owning the Glass: After getting outrebounded by 7.5 boards a game last year, NSU has outrebounded all five of its opponents this year. Through five games, the Spartans rank second in the MEAC with a +6.6 rebounding margin.
The Spartans have also had 40 or more rebounds in all five games this year. The last time NSU had at least 40 rebounds in five straight games occurred from Jan. 15, 2007-Feb. 5, 2007 during a span of six games.
NSU also had 22 offensive rebounds against Wofford Nov. 27. NSU had 22 offensive rebounds on Jan. 11, 2010 at Florida A&M, but before that, the last time the Spartans had more than 22 occurred Jan. 24, 2009 at South Carolina State (26).
Leading the MEAC: NSU enters the weekend ranked in the top 3 in 13 different categories, and leads the conference in scoring margin (+7.0), field goal percentage (44.6), opponent rebounding (35.4 per game), and assists (14.0).
Great Offense: After hitting 49.1 percent from the floor against St. Paul's, the best mark in 25 games, NSU posted a 52.9 percent shooting mark against Central Arkansas, including 66.7 percent in the first half. It had been 31 games since NSU shot better than it did against the Sugar Bears: March 5, 2009 against North Carolina A&T (54.8 percent).
NSU has shot better than its opponent in three of the five games this year and currently leads the conference with a 44.6 shooting percentage. That mark also stood 39th in the country heading into the week.
Increased Production: After #Batavia Owens# averaged 4.9 points and 5.4 rebounds a game last year, the coaches stated they needed her to be a consistent double-double performer this year. Well, so far, so good, for the sophomore. She has scored in double figures in four games and has posted 11.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
She sits ninth in scoring and third in rebounding in the MEAC and is one of two players to rank in the top 10 in both points and rebounds along with Howard's Saadia Doyle (fifth in rebounding, second in scoring). Owens ranks first in the conference in offensive boards with 3.8 per game.
No Sophomore Slump: After finishing first in the conference in assists and sixth in steals, Trice is at it again in her sophomore campaign. She stands tied for third in assists with Corbo at 3.8 per contest, but more importantly, sits first in assist-turnover ratio at 1.7 (19 assists, 11 turnovers).
Mixing It Up: NSU will use a lot of combinations on the floor throughout the season, and it has shown so far. In all five games on the year, NSU has had at least seven players with 13 or more minutes on the floor.
Seeing Double: NSU players had just four double-doubles last season, including two by Owens and one by Dalton. In the season's first four games, though, NSU had four double-doubles: two by Owens and one each by Brooks and Gordon.
The pair of double-doubles by Owens and Brooks against Central Arkansas marked the first time two NSU players had double-doubles in the same game since Tiffany Gadsden and Areya Walker accomplished the feat against Virginia Union Jan. 3, 2008.
More Rookie Props: Corbo, another freshman expected to make a big impact right away, had a solid all-around game as well against St. Paul's, handing out six assists to go along with five points, three rebounds and three steals. She committed just two turnovers for a healthy 3:1 turnover ratio.
Despite some struggles this year, Corbo has still tallied 19 assists to 16 turnovers, with at least five assists in three of five games, and ranks fourth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).
Charity Stripe Success: The Spartans shot better from the free throw line than their opponent in 19 of 27 games last year and made either as many or more free throws than the opposition in 17 of those 27 games. Through five games this year, NSU has had more free throws three times and had a better percentage in two games.
Up Next: NSU get a break for finals before heading to Wililam & Mary Dec. 15, followed by a home game against McNeese State Dec. 18.
