Live Audio | Live Stats (Hampton) | Live Stats (Howard) | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - The first of two Battles of the Bay gets underway Saturday as the Norfolk State women's basketball team travels to Hampton to take on the Pirates at the HU Convocation Center. Tip-off time is set for 4 p.m.
NSU will then take on Howard Monday at 6 p.m. in Washington, D.C. before returning home.
Hampton leads the all-time series 43-35, which dates back to NSU's first year of basketball in 1974-75. The teams have played at least once per season except for two years in the mid-90's right before NSU moved up to Division I. Howard. meanwhile, has a 24-9 edge on NSU in the all-time series.
Media Coverage: All of NSU's games from now until the end fo the season can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM. Click here for the link to the audio feed. Live stats against Hampton can be found here and against Howard here.
About Hampton: The Pirates stand 10-5 overall and lead the conference with a 3-0 MEAC mark. After dropping four of their first five games, the Pirates have won nine of their last 10, with the lone loss coming to Wake Forest.
Five different players are averaging more than 10 points a game, although Nicole Hamilton (13.6) and Jericka Jenkins (13.1) have missed a combined 14 games. Quanneisha Perry leads the way with 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Melanie Warner and Choicetta McMillian also average in double figures with 10.7 points.
Jenkins sits at 6.3 assists per game, while Warner and McMillian each have 26 steals on the year. As a team, the Pirates are averaging 62.6 points a game but limiting opponents to 57.5. Hampton also has a +2.4 rebounding margin and is shooting 38.4 percent overall on the season.
About Howard: Having lost their last seven games and 11 of the past 12, Howard owns a 3-13 record and sits 0-3 in conference play.
The scoring and rebounding for Howard revolves around Saadia Doyle, who by far and away leads the Bison with 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds a game. Cheyenne Curley-Payne ranks second with 8.3 points, while Tamoria Holmes adds 7.3 points.
As a team, Howard averages just 47.4 points a game and is giving up 60.8. The Bison are shooting 31.8 percent for the season and have been outrebounded by 4 boards a game, although Howard has committed just five more turnovers than its opponents this year.
Last Time Out: NSU got the deficit to as little as two late in the second half, but Florida A&M held on for a 81-72 victory last Monday at Joseph Echols Hall.
For the second straight game, NSU could not find the late-game heroics. The Spartans were led by Sarah Daily with 23 points, while Whitney Long and Rae Corbo tallied 14 and 12, respectively. NSU shot well, hitting 42.2 percent for the game, but cooled in the second half after hitting more than 50 percent from the floor in the first half.
Tameka McKelton had a game-high 25 points to lead the Rattlers. Antonia Bennett tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Qiana Donald had a game-hig 11 rebounds. FAMU held the rebounding edge, 38-35, with Marian Brooks posting a team-high nine for the Spartans.
Daily's Big Day: Sarah Daily has given NSU another valuable scoring option, highlighted by her 23-point night against FAMU Monday. She shot 8-of-16 from the floor, 6-of-7 from the foul line and added six rebounds. She also displayed her strength and toughness, adding several baskets on strong drives to the net.
Long Providing a Spark: Whitney Long has been a huge sparkplug for the NSU offense, as she has tallied 17.7 points per game over the last six contests, including three games of 20+ points. Long has shot just over 50 percent during that stretch. On the season she ranks sixth in the conference with 13.6 points per game as well as fourth in field goal percentage (44.7) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (47.5).
Nationally Ranked (Almost): How good has Whitney Long been from long range? Her 47.5 percent clip from beyond the arc for the season would rank tied for fifth in the nation, but the NCAA requires players to average 2 3-pointers made a game. Long has tallied 19 in 12 games.
Already Surpassed Last Year: With a 6-6 record, NSU has already surpassed the number of wins from the previous two seasons combined. A seventh win will mark the most victories since the 2005-06 campaign, when NSU record eight victories on the year.
NSU started the year out with a 4-1 record. The only other time that happened in the D-I era occurred during the 2001-02 season when NSU went on to capture the MEAC tournament title.
Leading the MEAC: NSU ranked in the top 3 in seven different categories heading into the weekend. NSU led the conference in field goal percentage (41.8), 3-point field goal percentage (37.6) and assists (12.3), and ranked second in assist-turnover ratio (0.6).
Nationally Ranked Defense: Through games of Jan. 9, NSU ranked 35th in the nation in 3-point field goal defense, holding opponents to a 27.3 percent clip from long range.
Balanced Scoring: NSU is one of two schools in the MEAC along with Hampton to have three players average at least 9.0 points per game or better.
Clutch at the Line: NSU hit all seven of its free throws in overtime against McNeese State on Dec. 18 and the last 10 in the game after going just 6-of-14 before that. In the overtime win against Central Arkansas on Nov. 20, NSU connected on 7-of-8 free throws in the extra session. So far this season, NSU is shooting 59.5 percent from the free throw line, but 69.0 percent (29-of-42) in the last two minutes of the second half and overtime.
Mixing It Up: NSU has used a number of different combinations on the floor throughout the season. The Spartans have had eight different starting lineups, and nine players are averaging at least 13 minutes a game.
Owning the Glass: After getting outrebounded by 7.5 boards a game last year, NSU has been more steady on the board this year and owns a +0.4 rebounding margin.
What Lies Ahead: NSU will go to the nation's capital to take on Howard Monday at 6 p.m.
