Friday: Radford at NSU, 6 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Live Stats | Live Audio/Video | Live Audio Only | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Having not played a full game in 11 days, the Norfolk State women's basketball team will look to pick up a key non-conference win Friday at Echols Hall against Radford at 6 p.m. NSU's last game at Longwood last Sunday was canceled just two and a half minutes into play when one of the officials collapsed on the court and had to be taken to the hospital.

Radford leads the all-time series, 6-3, although seven of those first nine contests came in the late 1970s. The teams have played each other just twice in the last 30 years. NSU earned a 71-58 victory on Dec. 14, 2003, while Radford got revenge the next season, 76-69, on Jan. 3, 2005.

Media Coverage: Live stats and a live video feed will be available on Friday. The game will be broadcast live on WNSB Hot 91.1, while NSU's video feed will carry the play-by-play live as well.

Last Time Out: Prior to the game at Longwood, NSU fell into a big hole early in the game but clawed its way back before South Carolina State pulled out a 74-69 victory over the Spartans on Dec. 5 at Echols Hall. The Bulldogs went on a 19-2 run to start the game, although the Spartans did grab a one-point lead with eight minutes left in the game.

Whitney Long led all players with 18 points, while Rae Corbo tallied 14 and freshman Ebony Brown added 10. Corbo also added two blocks and four steals. S.C. State held a 40-29 edge on the boards and attempted twice as many free throws as the Spartans.

Defensive Minded: Rachel Gordon has tallied double-digit efforts in rebounds in six of the team's eight games this year. Dating back to last season, Gordon has posted 10 or more rebounds in nine of the last 13 games.

Dominating the Boards: NSU has outrebounded six of its eight opponents this season after doing the same in the first five games of last season. So far this year, the Spartans are outrebounding their opponents by 4.8 boards per game.

Cracking the top 10: With two more assists, Recca Trice will move into a tie for 10th place all-time in the NSU record book for career assists. Whitney Long is seven 3-pointers away from moving into a tie for third place all-time in career 3-pointers as well (See Page 3).

March to 1,000: Whitney Long needs just 148 points to become the 20th player all-time at NSU with 1,000 career points. Thanks to her early scoring outburst so far this season, Long would need to average just 7 points a game the rest of the season to reach 1,000.

MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: As a team NSU ranks in the top 3 in 10 different categories in the MEAC, including first overall in field goal percentage (41.8), assists (14.0), rebounds (44.0) and defensive rebounds (27.5).

NSU players rank in the top 5 in seven different categories in the league, including Rachel Gordon, who leads the league in rebounding (10.1) and defensive rebounding (6.4). Heading into the week, Gordon ranked 24th in the nation in rebounding, while Recca Trice stood 30th in the nation in assists and second in the MEAC.

In addition, NSU ranked 30th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense (24.1).

What's the Opposite of a Sophomore Slump?: Rachel Gordon has tallied 11.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this year, to go along with a 45.5 shooting percentage and a 71.4 percent effort from the free throw line. Her production is up 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game from last year.

Strong Defense: NSU has given up just 50 or fewer points to three opponents this year, the first time doing so since the 2003-04 season. The Spartans have also held three opponents under 30 percent shooting, after having done so just two times the previous four seasons combined.

Same Starters: After using 13 different starting combinations in 2010-11, the Spartans have used the same five of Batavia Owens, Rachel Gordon, Rae Corbo, Whitney Long and Recca Trice in every game this year. When those five are on the court, they are averaging nearly 8.5 points more than their opponents per 40 minutes of play.

Up Next: NSU will head to Virginia Commonwealth next Wednesday for a noon tip-off before breaking for the Christmas holiday.