Game Notes |Live Stats| Live Video
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team will host USC Upstate on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall. This is the second of three straight home games for NSU.
Media Coverage: Live stats and a live video stream will be available at www.nsuspartans.com.
Last Time Out: NSU is coming off of a 60-51 victory against Penn, on Friday at Joseph Echols Hall. Junior Kashay Barnes led the team in scoring with 16 points.
Series History: NSU leads the series against USC Upstate, 4-0. Last year NSU defeated USC Upstate, 94-81. The 94 points scored against USC Upstate marked the most scored in regulation in almost 13 years dating back to a 97-62 win over South Carolina State at home on Jan. 9, 1999. The 175 combined points between NSU and USC Upstate are the most since NSU and Howard combined for 177 in a 93-84 Bison victory on March 3, 2008.
About USC Upstate: USC Upstate is 0-2 on the season. The Spartans suffered a 77-46 loss to Old Dominion on Tuesday. Brittany Starling led the team with 17 points.
Career Free Throws: Rae Corbo's career 76.2 shooting percentage from the free throw line marks the second-best percentage ever by an NSU player, only surpassed by Vivian Greene's 76.4 percent clip in the late 1970s.
Defensive Minded: Rachel Gordon tallied 15 rebounds in the Spartans 60-51 win over Penn on Nov. 9. Gordon finished 16th in the nation and first in the league in rebounding last season.
Winning the Rebounding Battle: After outrebounding 15 of 27 opponents last year, NSU started the season off well, outrebounding the Quakers, 46-35, on Nov. 9.
Cracking the Top 10: Recca Trice is in seventh place all-time in the NSU record book for career assists. Her 336 career helpers now puts her 21 away from tying Kiersten Portlock for sixth all time.
MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: As a team NSU finished in the top 5 in nine different categories in the MEAC last year, while NSU players ranked in the top 5 in eight different categories, including Rachel Gordon, who led the league in rebounding at 10.4 boards per game.
Owning the Paint: Penn outscored the Spartans in the paint by two points. Last season NSU dominated the inside scoring, averaging 6.8 more points in the paint per game. Only Monmouth, Howard, Hampton (first meeting) and Bethune-Cookman (first meeting) scored more points in the paint than NSU in a game last year.
Strong Defense: NSU gave up just 50 or fewer points to three opponents last year, the first time doing so since the 2003-04 season. The Spartans have already done it again, allowing Penn only 50 points on Nov. 9.
Glad to be Home: NSU will play several home games this season as 13 different opponents will come to Joseph Echols Hall this year.
Spartans Get No Respect: NSU was picked to finish ninth in the MEAC this season in the preseason poll as voted on by coaches and sports information directors. NSU received 278 points overall, trailing the No. 8 team in the poll, Bethune-Cookman, which received 292 points. After finishing with a 6-10 conference record last year, the Spartans will have to earn the league's respect out on the court.
Spartans Add Much-Needed Size: Known for bringing in players with a strong post presence during her time at Florida A&M, Clark is doing the same thing at NSU, as the Spartans have improved their rebounding margin by 10.4 boards per game from Clark's first year to her third. This year, her fourth, she added two more big post players in the 6-2 Kristian Parker and 6-1 Tamara Majette. Those two, along with Owens, Gordon and Dillard, all stand 6-0 or better.
