NSU Women vs. Chowan Live Stats l Game Notes | Live Video | Live Audio (WNSB Hot 91.1 FM)
NSU Men vs. Randolph Live Stats l Live Video | Live Audio (WNSB Hot 91.1 FM)
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's and men's basketball teams play host to their respective 2011-12 home openers on Wednesday night at Joseph Echols Hall. The women play Chowan at 6 p.m., and the men host Randolph College at 8 p.m. Both games can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM.
The Spartan women picked up their first win of the season with an 80-58 victory over Texas Southern last Friday, outscoring the Tigers 41-18 in the second half after being down by one at the break. The Spartans were led by sophomore Rae Corbo, who tallied a career-high 26 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
NSU shot 56.6 percent overall in the game, its best shooting percentage since moving to Division I in 1997-98. Along with Corbo's performance, sophomore Rachel Gordon added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Whitney Long contributed 18 points. This year NSU returns nine letterwinners, including eight of the top nine scorers, and added six freshmen to the roster.
Chowan opened its season last weekend at the Wolf's Bus Lines Tournament at Shippensburg, where the Hawks earned a 48-46 victory over the University of Charleston before suffering a 60-51 loss to host Shippensburg. Ransheda Jennings was the star of the weekend, as she had 36 points combined between the two games and a team-leading 15 rebounds. Janelle Murphy scored 22 points over the two games, while Courtney Knight added 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Like NSU, Chowan also returned nine letterwinners to this year's team after finishing 11-7 in CIAA play, good for a tie for first in the Northern Division. The Hawks also brought in seven freshmen to round out the lineup. This will mark the first ever meeting between the two teams.
The NSU men opened the season with a 99-68 loss at No. 21 Marquette on Monday night in Milwaukee. Chris McEachin tied his career high with 19 points, and senior forward Marcos Tamares poured in a personal-best 17 for the Spartans. They combined to hit nine of NSU's 11 3-pointers, but the Spartans committed 25 turnovers as a team, leading to 22 Marquette points.
The Spartans bring back 11 letterwinners from last season's team that finished 12-20 and advanced to the MEAC Tournament semifinals. Center Kyle O'Quinn is the team's top returner. O'Quinn, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, averaged 16.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game last season en route to All-MEAC first-team honors.
Senior wing players McEachin (10.3 ppg) and Rodney McCauley (3.6 ppg) and sophomore guard Pendarvis Williams (8.1 ppg) anchor the team's perimeter returners. Williams hit a team-high 37 3-pointers, while McEachin was second on the team with 32.
Randolph College, based in Lynchburg, Va., welcomes back three starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team that finished 18-10 overall, 9-5 in the Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). The WildCats advanced to last year's ODAC title game, where they fell to Randolph-Macon.
Leading the returnees is junior guard Colton Hunt, who averaged 15.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season. He also paced the team with 61 steals. Senior forward Derrick Woods-Morrow leads the Randolph frontcourt. He was second on the team in scoring last season (9.1 points per game) and paced the squad in rebounding (7.9) and blocked shots (32).
Randolph opens the season with a contest at NAIA Virginia Intermont on Tuesday evening.
