This Week's Schedule
Saturday: vs. Savannah State, 4 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | Game Notes
Monday: vs. South Carolina State, 6 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - Coming off a near upset of William & Mary, the Norfolk State women's basketball team will switch to conference play for the next two games, beginning with Savannah State Saturday at 4 p.m. at Echols Hall.
NSU will then face South Carolina State Monday at Echols with a tip-off time at 6 p.m. Both games are the first of a doubleheader with the men's team. Savannah State owns a 4-2 record on the season, while South Carolina State stands 2-3.
NSU leads the all-time series against Savannah State 4-1, including last season's 67-66 narrow victory over the Tigers in a non-conference matchup right after the new year. This will mark the first meeting between the two teams as conference foes.
NSU also leads the South Carolina State series 17-14. The Bulldogs are just one of two teams NSU has beaten in conference play the last three years.
Media Coverage: Today's game can be heard on NSU's campus radio station, WNSB Hot 91.1. Click here to listen to the audio on your computer. NSU will also provide a live statistical feed of the game here, as well as a live video feed of the game through the All-Access Video Streaming link on the website.
Last Time Out: NSU nearly broke a nine-game losing streak to William & Mary, but the Tribe finally survived in double overtime, 79-76, last Monday at Echols Hall. The Spartans led by as much as eight in the first half in a surprising contest, as William & Mary had won the last three meetings by an average of 31 points a game.
Rachel Gordon again had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Whitney Long had a team-high 21 points. Rae Corbo added 18, and Batavia Owens also scored in double figures with 10. Recca Trice had seven assists for NSU. Emily Correal led William & Mary with 21 points and 15 boards. NSU shot better in all three phases of the game and once again had the rebounding edge.
Defensive Minded: Rachel Gordon has tallied double-digit efforts in rebounds in five of the team's six games this year, with nearly 40 percent of those boards on the offensive end. Dating back to last season, Gordon has posted 10 or more rebounds in eight of the last 11 games.
Dominating the Boards: NSU has outrebounded all six of its 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 10.3 boards per game, good enough for 22nd in the country.
Making Strides: NSU has now lost 10 in a row to William & Mary, but only once in those first nine losses was NSU within 12 at the end of the game. The previous three meetings had been decided by an average of 31 points per game before NSU forced a double overtime on its home court against the Tribe, a team that returned all five of its regular starters from last year. It marked just the fourth time ever an NSU game went into a second overtime.
MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: As a team NSU ranks in the top 3 in 11 different categories in the MEAC, including first overall in field goal percentage, overall rebounding, assists, assist-turnover ratio, as well as both offensive and defensive rebounding.
NSU players find themselves in the top 5 in eight different categories in the league, including Recca Trice, who ranks first in assists (6.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.4). Rachel Gordon leads the league with 6.7 defensive rebounds per game and ranks second overall in rebounding (11.0). Heading into the week, Gordon ranked 26th in the nation in rebounding, while Trice stood 21st in assists.
What's the Opposite of a Sophomore Slump?: Rachel Gordon has tallied 12.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game this year, to go along with a 46.7 shooting percentage and a 73.1 percent effort from the free throw line. Her production is up 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game from last year.
Lights Out: NSU's three main post players, Batavia Owens, Marian Brooks and Rachel Gordon, have combined to shoot 50-of-99 (50.4 percent) from the floor this season.
So far this season, NSU has hit better than 43 percent from the field in four games and less than 31 percent in the other two. In the Division I era NSU has hit from better than 53 percent in six games, with two of those coming this year.
Perfect From the Line: NSU's 11-of-11 effort from the free throw line against William & Mary marked just the second time in the Division I era the Spartans have been perfect from the free throw line, minimum 10 makes. NSU went a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe at Hampton on Feb. 27, 2007.
Glad to be Home: After opening previous seasons on the road for much of the first two months of the season, including no homes games until mid-January during the 2008-09 season, NSU will play its most home games in five years as 13 different teams come to Joseph Echols Hall this year. Included in that list are fellow state of Virginia schools William & Mary, Radford and George Mason.
Up Next: Following these two conference matchups, NSU will head to Longwood on Dec. 11, followed by a home game against Radford at 6 p.m. on Dec. 16.
