Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – A tight game in which the biggest lead of the day was just six points, North Carolina Central's domination on the boards led to a 62-56 win over the Norfolk State women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

The Eagles held a 50-33 rebounding margin, including 19 offensive boards, as they dropped NSU to 8-15 on the season. The Spartans lost their seventh-straight game, while the Eagles won their third straight – all against MEAC competition – and improved to 5-21 on the season.

The lead changed hands 18 times during the game.

Jori Nwachukwu torched the Spartans for 28 points and 13 rebounds, while J'Mia Pollock joined her with a double-double game of 15 points and 14 rebounds to go along with six assists. Nwachukwu was 10-of-26 from the floor, 8-of-9 from the free throw line and also grabbed three steals.

Freshman Rae Corbo led the way for NSU with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, while juniors Tyisha Bridges and Sarah Daily each tallied 12 points. Freshman Rachel Gordon had a team-high seven rebounds with six points, and sophomore Marian Brooks added six points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

NC Central had a 19-4 edge in offensive rebounds, which led to a 26-3 advantage in second-chance points. The Eagles hit just 32.8 percent for the game on 22-of-67 shooting, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range. NSU, meanwhile, connected on a solid 44.2 percent of its shots on 23-of-52 shooting. The Spartans had a 6-of-12 effort from beyond the arc.

NC Central also was 17-of-23 on free throws, while NSU was just 4-of-11. Shanise Blanks missed all 13 of her floor shots for the Eagles.

NSU failed to convert a basket until the 15:20 mark of the first half when Gordon hit a basket down low for a 6-3 Central lead. From that point on in the first half, neither team took more than a three-point lead. Daily drained a 3-pointer with 11:44 left to give the Spartans a 10-8 lead, one of 10 lead changes in the first stanza.

Corbo hit a pair of layups a minute apart, the latter tying the score at 16-16 with 7:53 left. The Spartans were able to overcome a two and a half minute scoring drought and then took the lead on another basket by Gordon down low, 20-19.

A pair of fastbreak layups by Bridges and Corbo with less than two minutes remaining allowed NSU to go into the half down by just one, 25-24. Pollock and Nwachukwu had eight and seven points, respectively, in the first half, while Sierra Solomon had nine of her game total of 11 points in the first stanza.

NSU shot 50 percent in the second half, but the Eagles had 14 more rebounds than the Spartans. NC Central scored 19 of its 37 second-half points on second-chance opportunities.

A 3-pointer by Corbo and a basket by Bridges gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the game in the opening minutes of the second half, 29-25. After NC Central took the lead back on a 7-0 run, Daily hit a pair of shots, including a trey, to tie the game up, 34-34, five minutes into the second half.

Junior Whitney Long sank her only basket of the game, a 3-pointer with 11:17 remaining, for a 42-42 score. Despite making just one basket during the next five minutes, a trey by Bridges, NSU managed to stay within two points, 48-46, with 7:31 left in the game.

The teams traded free throws before Daily tied it up yet again, 52-52, with 4:47 left. Sheresa Mills sank a free throw with 2:32 left to give the Eagles a 55-52 lead. Central, though, missed its next four attempts from the charity stripe and Nwachukwu could not get a layup to fall to keep it a one possession game.

Corbo and Daily converted a pair of baskets in the last minute of play, but the Eagles hit 5-of-6 free throws with less than 40 seconds to go in the game as they held on for the win.

NSU will look to turn things around Monday at South Carolina State for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.