Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – Junior Sarah Daily hit a 7-foot jumper with nine seconds left in regulation to give the Norfolk State women's basketball team a 66-65 win over Morgan State Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.

NSU broke an eight-game losing streak and also defeated the Bears for the first time in nine games, dating back to the 2005-06 season, as the Spartans improved to 9-16 overall and 2-12 in the MEAC. Morgan State fell to 15-12, 9-5 in the conference.

Down 65-62 with 58 seconds left after a pair of free throws by MSU's Brittany Dodson, NSU got a layup from junior Whitney Long on the next possession to cut the deficit to two, 65-64. The Bears then turned the ball over on their end of the floor. After a timeout, freshman Rae Corbo inbounded the ball from the baseline to Daily near the 3-point line. Daily drove several steps to her left into the lane before hitting the winning shot.

Mahala Thomas missed badly on a shot on the other end of the floor, but MSU got possession when the ball went out of bounds off an NSU player. The Bears threw an errant inbounds pass into the lane with two seconds left, and NSU picked up its second MEAC win of the season for the first time in four seasons.

Corbo posted a team-high 20 points for the Spartans on 7-of-17 shooting, while Thomas led all players with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including five treys. Freshman Rachel Gordon had a game-high 13 rebounds with nine points, while Daily and Long added eight points each.

Both teams shot well – 44.6 percent for MSU compared to 43.9 percent for NSU – while the Bears knocked down 10 shots from long range. For the first time in 15 games, NSU had more free throws than its opponent, 10-of-17 compared to 5-of-7 for Morgan State. NSU had a season-low 12 personal fouls in the game.

NSU also committed a season-low in turnovers with 13, compared to 16 for the Bears. Morgan State won the rebounding battle, 37-33, but the Spartans held the Bears to just 18 points in the paint and zero fastbreak baskets.

Dodson also scored in double figures for Morgan State with 10 points.

A back-and-forth first half that saw seven lead changes got started when Corbo hit a pair of charity stripe shots just 13 seconds into the game. Corbo eventually gave NSU a five-point lead, 11-6, with 15:48 left in the first half. A short time later, the Bears used an 11-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Thomas, for a 19-15 lead.

The Spartans held the Bears scoreless for nearly five minutes as NSU grabbed the lead back with five and a half minutes left. Corbo's 3-pointer at 5:01 started a 7-0 run that built the lead to eight points, but Morgan State scored the last nine points of the first half during the last three minutes to head into the locker room nursing a one-point lead, 33-32.

Morgan State held on to the lead as the second half kicked into full gear, twice getting a six-point advantage and then taking a seven-point lead, 45-38, with 15:59 left on a trey by Erin Hawkins. The Spartans, though, used a short, 8-2 run to keep the Bears from getting too far ahead.

Sophomore Batavia Owens converted on a layup and Long drained a shot from downtown to finally get NSU back on top, 51-49, halfway through the second stanza. Another basket by Owens put the Spartans up by five, 54-49, with 8:12 left in the game, but the Bears went on a 7-1 run to make it 62-57 at the 4:38 mark.

Gordon's layup allowed NSU to pull within one, 63-62, before Dodson's free throws started the last-minute excitement. NSU committed just five turnovers in the second half.

NSU will look to keep the momentum going Monday as Coppin State comes to town.