Box Score

DOVER, Del. – A pair of extended shooting droughts in each half by the Norfolk State women's basketball team spelled doom in a 66-48 loss to Delaware State Monday evening at Memorial Hall.

The Spartans went scoreless for a combined 19 minutes, 18 seconds as they fell to 8-12 overall, 1-9 in the MEAC with their fourth straight loss, all on the road. The Hornets improved to 7-15, 3-7 with their second-straight win.

Junior Sarah Daily hit double digits for the fourth-straight game with 13 points, while freshman Rae Corbo also tallied 13 for the Spartans. Sophomore Marian Brooks added 10 points and seven boards, while sophomore Batavia Owens also posted seven rebounds.

Brittany Washington and Kianna Conner added 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Washington also completed the double-double with10 rebounds. Kianna D'Oliveira stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals.

NSU held the Hornets to 36.4 percent shooting on 20-of-55, but the Spartans fared even worse, hitting 30.2 percent from the floor (16-of-53). That included a 23.1 percent first-half clip for NSU. After getting outrebounded by 16 boards in their previous game, the Spartans held a 41-38 advantage on the boards against DSU.

The Hornets, though, converted on their free throw attempts, hitting 23-of-30 for the game, including 13-of-16 in the second half.

Daily hit a pair of shots early on to get the Spartans going, and a 3-pointer by Corbo made it 7-5 NSU three and a half minutes into the game. But after Corbo hit several free throws, the Spartans went cold from the floor, failing to score a point for 6:21 until Long sank a pair of free throws.

A layup by Brooks with 5:48 left in the half was NSU's first basket in 10 minutes, 43 seconds as Delaware State pushed the lead to 10, 24-14 on an extended 12-4 run that lasted 10 minutes. After sitting out much of the first half with two fouls, Daily came in and connected from long range with 44 seconds to go, but a 3-pointer by Conner with the shot clock about to expire gave the Hornets a 32-19 lead going into the half.

The Hornets scored the first five points of the second half to get the lead to 18 before Daily faked out a defender down low and made an easy two to make it 37-21. The Spartans twice cut the deficit to 14, and then got it to 10 on a fastbreak layup by Bridges with 11:06 to go. Corbo hit a pair of free throws a little over two minutes later that cut the deficit to nine, 45-36.

But much like the first half, NSU went scoreless from the floor, that is until Long stole the ball at midcourt and went in for the fastbreak to give the Spartans their first bucket in 8:35. NSU got no closer than 12 the rest of the way as the Hornets held on for the win.

The Spartans will return to the confines of Echols Hall Saturday with the second Battle of the Bay basketball-style against Hampton. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.