Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team snapped a 24-game MEAC losing streak Monday evening with a 73-65 win over South Carolina State at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Spartans improved to 8-8 on the year, including 1-5 in the conference, thanks to the play of Whitney Long and a torrid second half. The junior guard went 6-of-7 from 3-point range as part of a 9-of-11 overall effort for a game-high 24 points.

NSU erased an eight-point halftime deficit and outscored S.C. State by 16 in the second half.

In a turn of irony, NSU defeated the school it last beat in conference play, that being a 75-52 win over the Bulldogs two years ago on Feb. 21, 2009 in Echols Hall.

Long finished one 3-pointer short of tying the program record of seven set on two different occasions, but she did set a career high in the process. The Spartans hit 8-of-18 overall (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc.

Junior Tyisha Bridges posted 13 points and freshman Rae Corbo sank 12, with both players scoring all their points in the second half. Corbo also had a game-high four assists with two steals, while Bridges added three steals. Junior Marian Brooks and sophomore Batavia Owens tied for the team lead with six rebounds.

NSU hit 50 percent from the floor for the game, including 57.7 percent in the second half. S.C. State hit under 40 percent in both halves and 38.2 percent (21-of-55) for the game, including 4-of-8 from long range. The Spartans sank 26-of-52 shots on the night.

The Spartans also owned a 33-31 edge in rebounds and hit 13-of-17 free throws, all in the second half. S.C. State converted 19-of-25 overall from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs' leading scorer, Whitney Wiley, posted 17 points, while Fannie Goodwin totaled 14 points with a team-high six rebounds. Tracey Flowers joined them in double digits with 11 points and also added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Both teams were slow on the get-go on the offensive end as play opened up. Facing a double team down low, Brooks found sophomore Recca Trice coming in for the layup to tie it up at 4-4 early on. The Bulldogs got the lead up to five points at 13-8, but Corbo found Owens under the basket off the inbounds pass to make it 13-10 with 10:58 remaining.

Long hit a 3-pointer a short time later to cut the deficit to three, 16-13, and then again at 18-15 when she stole the mid-court inbounds pass and went in for the easy two with 8:24 left in the first half.

A 9-2 run by South Carolina State got the lead into double digits, 27-17, before Long again connected from downtown, this time with 2:12 showing. Owens converted on a layup from Corbo to make it 27-22, but despite another trey from Long with 49 seconds left, the Bulldogs went into the half nursing an eight-point lead, 33-25.

Long had 13 points in the first half for NSU.

Both teams picked up their offensive game in the second half, but the Bulldogs really came out on fire, getting the lead to 12, 41-29 and then to 43-30 with just three and a half minutes gone in the half.

Just when S.C. State looked to be in control, the Spartans completely turned the game around with a 16-2 run over a four minute stretch. With no defender coming up to challenge her, Long stepped up to hit a 3-pointer to make it 45-39. Corbo then threw a pass under the arms of her defender to Long, who again drained a shot from long range to get NSU to within three, 45-42, with 13:12 left.

Corbo then got NSU its first lead of the game with two straight fastbreak layups for a 46-45 Spartan advantage. Bridges drained a 3-pointer from the corner to tie it up at 49-49 with 10:50 left before Corbo hit a trey and Long sank a fastbreak bunny for a five-point advantage, 54-49.

Long was clutch again a little less than two minutes later, extending the lead to five at 57-52 with her sixth 3-pointer of the game after the Bulldogs had cut the lead to two. NSU then connected on some important free throws, including four by Brooks, the last two which put the Spartans on top, 65-57, with 4:34 to go.

A tip-in by Owens off a miss by Corbo made it 68-61, but S.C. State did not go away, cutting the lead back down to three points off a jumper by Wiley with just 1:27 on the clock.

That was as close as the Bulldogs got, though. Bridges hit 1-of-2 from the line, drove across the lane and hit a layup, then stole the inbounds pass, got fouled and sank both free throws, all within a 30-second span, to ice the win. S.C. State committed two turnovers and missed a pair of shots in the final 1:07 of regulation.

NSU will head to Baltimore to face Morgan State Saturday at 3 p.m.