Wednesday: NSU at VCU, Noon, Verizon Wireless Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - Before heading home for the Christmas holiday, the Norfolk State women's basketball team will take on another in-state non-conference opponent, visiting VCU Wednesday at noon at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
NSU leads the all-time series, 7-5, with VCU having won three of the four meetings during NSU's Division I era from 1997 until now. The Rams won the last meeting, 71-49, on Nov. 29, 2006, with NSU's last win occurring Dec. 13, 1998, a 73-65 victory. The Spartans won six of the eight meetings during the late 1970s.
Media Coverage: Live stats and a live video feed will be available for the game through the online home of VCU athletics.
Last Time Out: Radford held a sizeable edge in rebounding and shot 45 percent from the floor to down NSU, 80-68, last Friday at Joseph Echols Hall. NSU raced out to an eight-point lead to start the game, but the Highlanders used their assertiveness on the boards to take an eventual 18-point lead in the second half. Radford overcame 24 turnovers on the night.
Rae Corbo led NSU with 19 points, with Whitney Long and Quineshia Leonard posting 13 and 11 points, respectively. Rachel Gordon tied her career high with 13 rebounds, including 12 in the second half, as NSU got outrebounded, 49-38. Radford converted offensive boards into 22 second-chance points.
Defensive Minded: Rachel Gordon has tallied double-digit efforts in rebounds in seven of the team's nine games this year. Dating back to last season, Gordon has posted 10 or more rebounds in 10 of the last 14 games.
Winning the Rebounding Battle: NSU outrebounded its first six opponents of the season after doing the same in the first five games of last season. So far this year, the Spartans are outrebounding their opponents by 3.0 boards per game, a +4.5 difference from a season ago.
Cracking the top 10: Recca Trice moved into 10th place all-time in the NSU record book for career assists following the Radford contest, as her 241 career helpers now puts her four away from tying Ann Theus for ninth all time. In addition, Whitney Long is seven 3-pointers away from moving into a tie for third place all-time in career treys as well (See Page 3).
March to 1,000: Whitney Long needs just 135 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 seven different categories in the MEAC, including first overall in field goal percentage (41.3) and rebounds (43.3).
NSU players rank in the top 5 in seven different categories in the league, including Rachel Gordon, who leads the league in rebounding (10.4) and defensive rebounding (6.3). Heading into the week, Gordon ranked 18th in the nation in rebounding, while Recca Trice stood 37th in the nation in assists and second in the MEAC.
In addition, NSU ranked 42nd in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense (25.3).
What's the Opposite of a Sophomore Slump?: Rachel Gordon has tallied 10.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this year. Her production is up 4.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game from last year.
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 7.6 points more than their opponents per 40 minutes of play.
Lights Out: NSU's three main post players, Batavia Owens, Marian Brooks and Rachel Gordon, have combined to shoot 77-of-160 (48.1 percent) from the floor this season. The Spartans are averaging 10.4 more points in the paint per game than their opponents.
Up Next: NSU will return from its break with the two-day Hawk Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30 at Monmouth. The Spartans will play the host school on the first day, and then either St. Bonaventure or Villanova on Day 2.
