Saturday: at Hampton, 4 p.m., HU Convocation Center
Live Stats | Live Audio | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - The first of two Battles of the Bay takes place on Saturday as the Norfolk State women's basketball team heads over to Hampton to take on the Pirates at 4 p.m. at the HU Convocation Center.
Hampton leads the all-time series, 46-35, and has won the last 10 in a row dating back to the 2006-07 season, when NSU picked up its last win against the Pirates, 70-66, on Dec. 2, 2006.
Media Coverage: The game can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM, with Joe Cook and Ross Gordon on the call. In addition, live stats will be available for the contest through the Hampton athletics website.
Last Time Out: After pulling out a win at Morgan State on Jan. 14, NSU nearly came away with another road victory before falling to Coppin State, 67-62, last Monday in Baltimore. The Eagles overcame a seven-point second-half deficit and hit 8-of-12 free throws with less than four minutes to go to seal the win, the 12th in a row over the Spartans.
Rae Corbo led all players with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Quineshia Leonard had her second straight solid game with 13 points and seven rebounds. Whitney Long added 12 points, all in the second half. Rachel Gordon tallied 10 rebounds.
March to 1,000: Whitney Long needs just 31 points to become the 20th player all-time at NSU with 1,000 career points. She has reached double digits in scoring in 12 of the last 14 games, and at her current pace, she could finish as high as 13th all-time in scoring at NSU by the end of the season.
3x the Fun: Rachel Gordon (14), Batavia Owens (12) and Quineshia Leonard (10) all reached double digits in rebounds at Morgan State on Jan. 14. It marked the first time in NSU's Division I history three players reached double figures in rebounds in a game and the first time overall since Feb. 24, 1996, when Michelle Sessoms (17), Selena Edward (14) and Latina Bullock (10) accomplished the feat against North Carolina Central.
Ending Some Losing Streaks: NSU broke a 40-game losing streak in road conference games with its win over Morgan State on Jan. 14. NSU's last win on the road in MEAC play occurred Jan. 3, 2007 in a 69-59 win at UMES. The Spartans had won eight MEAC games at home since their last road conference win.
Heading into the season, NSU had lost at least six games in a row to seven different MEAC opponents. The Spartans were able to cross UMES off that list, as the Hawks saw their six-game win streak over NSU come to an end on Jan. 7. Delaware State, Coppin State, Howard, Hampton, North Carolina A&T and Florida A&M each own an active seven-games-or-more win streak against NSU. The Spartans ended an eight-game losing streak to Morgan State last year.
Double Clutch: For the second time in a three-game stretch, Rae Corbo hit the game-winning shot with less than 30 seconds left after her basket against Morgan State on Jan. 14. Corbo's off-balance layup with 24.9 seconds left proved to be the winner in a 76-75 win. Of course, it wasn't nearly as dramatic as her game winner against UMES on Jan. 7. Corbo nailed a 30 footer off an inbounds pass with just 1.6 seconds left, hitting nothing but net right after the sound of the buzzer.
NSU Ties D-I Assists Record: With 23 helpers at Morgan State on Jan. 14, the Spartans tied the program's D-I record for assists in a game set at South Carolina State on Jan. 8, 2005. NSU also had 22 assists against USC Upstate on Nov. 21. The all-time program record stands at 38, set on Nov. 20, 1990 in a 143-43 win over Fayetteville State.
Ruling the Glass: NSU grabbed 30 offensive boards at Morgan State on Jan. 14, the most in a game since the Spartans tallied 34 against Howard on Feb. 4, 2008.
Defensive Minded: Rachel Gordon has tallied double-digit efforts in rebounds in 11 of the team's 17 games this year. Dating back to last season, Gordon has posted 10 or more rebounds in 14 of the last 22 games.
Cracking the top 10: Recca Trice moved into ninth place all-time in the NSU record book for career assists during the Monmouth contest, and her 276 career helpers now puts her two away from tying Toia Johnson for eighth all time. In addition, Whitney Long now sits alone in third place all-time in career treys as well.
MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: As a team NSU ranks in the top 4 in seven different categories in the MEAC, while NSU players rank in the top 5 in five different categories, including Rachel Gordon, who leads the league with 9.6 rebounds per game. Heading into the week, Gordon ranked 46th in the nation in rebounding.
What's the Opposite of a Sophomore Slump?: Rachel Gordon has tallied 8.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game this year. Her production is up 3.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game from last year. Rae Corbo, meanwhile, has upped her scoring average by 2.5 points per game and has committed nearly 1 less turnover per contest.
Better in the Second Half: So far this season, NSU has scored 99 more points in the second half than the first half, an average of 5.8 points per game. NSU is 7-0 this year when either leading or tied at the half, but just 1-9 when trailing at the break. Whitney Long, meanwhile, has scored 141 of her 243 points on the year (58.0 percent) after the intermission.
Winning the Rebounding Battle: NSU outrebounded its first six opponents of the season and has held the edge in 10 games overall. So far this year, the Spartans are outrebounding their opponents by 2.2 boards per game, a +3.7 difference from a season ago.
Scoring Tidbits: The duo of Rachel Gordon, Whitney Long and Rae Corbo have combined for 31 of the team's 45 double digit scoring efforts and 55.9 of the team's total scoring on the year. NSU has also dominated the inside scoring, averaging 7.7 more points in the paint per game.
Up Next: NSU will return to Echols Hall for a pair of games against Morgan State and Coppin State Jan. 28 and 30.
