Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. – A big second half propelled North Carolina A&T past the Norfolk State women's basketball team, 74-58, Saturday afternoon at the Corbett Sports Center after the Spartans had taken a 35-33 lead at the half.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Spartans (4-2, 0-1 MEAC) were unable to stop the Aggies on offense in the second half. A&T (2-4, 1-0) shot 50 percent in the second stanza and had 19 offensive boards for the game, scoring 26 second-chance points overall.

Freshman Rae Corbo tallied 17 points, while junior Sarah Daily added 13 for the Spartans. Sophomore Recca Trice had a game-high five assists, while junior Marian Brooks had eight points and a team-high five rebounds.

The Aggies got huge games from Jaleesa Sams and Crystal Murdaugh, who tallied 26 and 17 points, respectively. Both players had just eight points at the half but shot lights out in the second half.

Murdaugh also tallied a game-high 11 rebounds, as the Aggies posted a 42-33 advantage for the game. They also hit 45.8 percent from the floor overall, while the Spartans were limited to a 36.2 percent shooting clip.

The Aggies scored the first bucket of the game barely three seconds into the game, but a pair of jumpers by Daily and two free throws by sophomore Batavia Owens made it 6-4 early on. The teams went back and forth throughout the entire first half, with a total of nine lead changes in the first stanza.

Junior Whitney Long drained a 3-pointer with a defender in her face to put NSU up by one, 12-11, with 14:55 on the clock, but the Aggies took an 18-16 lead before Brooks scored a layup to tie it back up at 18-apiece. A 7-2 run by the Aggies gave them their biggest lead of the game, 27-22, as the clock ticked closer to the 7-minute mark.

After the Aggies kept a five-point advantage at 29-24, Long gave NSU a boost during a 9-2 run, hitting a fastbreak layup and then knocking down two free throws that cut the deficit to one, 31-30. Trice drained a long-range 3-pointer finally got the lead back, 33-31, with 1:22 left in the half. Brooks got the ball down low with 12 seconds to go as NSU went into the half up by two, 35-33.

Daily and Long each added nine points in the first half.

Corbo scored a fastbreak bunny with a pass from Trice before hitting a 3-pointer with 17:27 to go for a 40-38 lead, but the Aggies scored seven points in a row for a 45-40 lead. NSU called time with 13:36 to go down by seven, 49-42, as Murdaugh and Sams scored six points each early on in the second half.

That 7-0 run was part of a greater 17-4 run that helped the Aggies take an 11-point lead with 12:29 left in the half. Brooks hit a layup and a pair of free throws, the latter cutting the lead to nine at 55-46 with 11:13 to go, but that was as close as NSU got the rest of the game. A&T got the lead to as much as 17 before taking the victory in the first conference game of the season for both teams.

NSU will get a break for finals week before returning to the court at William & Mary Dec. 15.