Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team got oh-so-close, but numerous free throws by Morgan State allowed the Bears to take a 64-60 win over the Spartans Saturday afternoon at Talmadge Hill Field House.

NSU tied the score with as few as five minutes left in the game, but the Spartans were unable to convert on several chances late in the half as the Bears held on. The Spartans fell to 8-9 overall and 1-6 in the MEAC, while the Bears improved to 11-8, 5-2.

Sophomore Batavia Owens and junior Sarah Daily led the balanced NSU scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively, while Daily and sophomore Marian Brooks tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Owens also had a team-leading three steals, while freshman Rae Corbo contributed six points and five assists. The Spartans handed out 19 assists on their 25 baskets.

NSU sank 4-of-8 from the free throw line but got to the charity stripe just once in the second half. Morgan State had a 16-of-22 performance from the free throw line, including 9-of-13 in the second half. NSU converted on just one field goal in the last five minutes of play, none after the 4:30 mark.

Brittany Noel led all players with 16 points, while Kyla Rollins added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Bears, who held a 33-32 edge in rebounds for the game.

The Spartans shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) overall for the game, compared to 21-of-45 (46.7 percent) for the Bears. The Spartans found their rhythm from behind the arc, going 6-of-11 for the game. Morgan State hit a respectable 35.3 percent on 6-of-17 shooting.

Corbo got NSU on the board first with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, and a putback by freshman Tia Moore allowed NSU to take a one-point lead, 8-7, four a half minutes into the game. The Bears got the lead to six at 15-9 and then again at 17-11 before junior Tyisha Bridges drove into the lane and made a difficult layup with a defender draped all over her to make it 17-13 with 11:23 left in the half.

A trey from Daily gave NSU a short-live lead, 18-17, with 9:41 to play and ended a 7-0 run by the Spartans. NSU, however, went cold on the offensive end for several minutes, converting just one basket in six and a half minutes of action as the Bear lead got up to as much as eight in the first half.

Two quick baskets, the latter a jumper by Bridges just inside the 3-point line, got NSU to four, 28-24, and ended an 11-2 Morgan State run. The Bears held onto the four-point lead going into the half, up by a 30-26 score at the break.

Nine different players got in on the scoring for NSU in the first half, and all nine players had between two and four points.

Daily opened up scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer to make it 30-29 Morgan State, then a fastbreak by Corbo got NSU the lead, 33-32 with 17:09 left on the clock. Another bomb by Daily gave the Spartans a 36-33 advantage, which NSU got to four a short time later. Owens hit a pair of shots, and Moore made it 44-40 with a jumper at the 13:04 mark.

Tied 46-46 after neither team scored for two and a half minutes, a layup by Owens off an inbounds pass put NSU back up. Junior Whitney Long drained a 3 pointer from nearly 23 feet out for a 51-48 advantage with 7:48 to go. Morgan got the lead back, 53-51, a short time later when Noel sank a 3-pointer.

Again with Morgan State up by three, Owens converted on a traditional 3-point play to tie the score at 56-56 with 5:05 left. Morgan State, though, ran off five straight points for a 61-56 lead, but a basket by Moore cut it to three, 61-58, with approximately a minute and a half left.

NSU missed on three different shots and also committed a turnover late in the game, and got no closer thana two at 62-60 when freshman Carlon Chambers had a putback with eight seconds left.

NSU will look to rebound as the Spartans take on Coppin State Monday at 5:30 p.m.