Box Score TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A five-point lead early in the second half evaporated for the Norfolk State women's basketball team, and Florida A&M pulled away as the half wore on in an 81-64 victory over the Spartans Monday evening at the Alfred Lawson Center.

NSU played well throughout the first half, taking a three-point lead into the break, and had the lead as late as 14:27 in the second. The Rattlers used a 13-2 run midway through the half to help pull away for their eighth straight win over NSU. The Spartans, who have not beaten FAMU in seven years, fell to 10-16 overall, 5-10 in MEAC play. The Rattlers improved to 20-7, 13-2.

The loss by the Spartans coupled with Morgan State's overtime loss to Delaware State guarantees NSU will have the No. 9 seed in the MEAC tournament beginning next Monday in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Spartans will face UMES, South Carolina State or Bethune-Cookman at 11 a.m. to start the tournament.

Sophomore Rachel Gordon led the way for NSU with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Rae Corbo tallied a team-leading 12 points and senior Whitney Long chipped in with 11. NSU held the edge on the boards by a 48-37 margin against the MEAC's top rebounding team.

Florida A&M found its offense in the second half, hitting better than 56 percent in the latter half of the game and finishing a respectable 41.8 percent from the floor on 28-of-67 shooting overall. That mark included a 12-of-28 effort from beyond the arc. The Rattlers committed just eight turnovers on the night as well.

Jasmine Grace and Antonia Bennett each tallied 21 points to lead the way for the Rattlers, who got scoring from just five players. In addition to that duo, Kimberly Sparkman and Tameka McKelton added 16 and 15 points, respectively. Jamie Foreman scored the other eight points for the Rattlers on the night.

Both teams hit a shot from long range to start the game, indicative of a first half in which neither team had more than a four-point lead. Despite being held scoreless for three minutes, NSU still trailed by just one, 8-7, when Gordon converted on a shot in the paint at the 15:32 mark.

Corbo hit a pair of buckets to put NSU up 13-10 a short time later, but after junior Recca Trice sank a jumper for a 15-13 lead with 12:30 left in the half, the Spartans scored just two points over the next seven and a half minutes. FAMU failed to capitalize, though, and a short 6-0 run by the Spartans put them back up at 23-19 with 4:14 to go.

Grice nailed a three with less than two minutes left in the half for a 29-25 FAMU lead, but a trey from Long highlighted a 7-0 run by the Spartans to close the half. NSU went into the intermission holding a 32-29 lead.

After shooting 46 percent in the first half, NSU went cold in the second half. The Spartans connected on less than 28 percent after halftime despite committing just five of their 18 turnovers for the game in that second stanza.

Junior Batavia Owens hit a jumper in the lane for a 34-29 lead to start the second half and give the Spartans their biggest lead of the game. An 8-2 run by the Rattlers gave them the lead back, 37-36, at the 17:16 mark. Owens added another basket two minutes later, and a pair of free throws from senior Tyisha Bridges put NSU up 41-39 with 14:27 to go.

The Rattlers then went on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes for a nine-point lead midway through the second half, a lead the Rattlers did not relinquish the rest of the game. Gordon added a pair of buckets and a free throw to keep the FAMU advantage in single digits. After Owens sank a basket with 8:09 left to make it 57-52 in favor of the Rattlers, however, the Spartans shot just 4-of-19 from there on out as FAMU stretched its lead to double digits to close out the contest.

The Spartans hit 23-of-66 (34.8 percent) from the floor for the game. Owens and Bridges added nine points each for NSU, while Owens also grabbed nine rebounds.

The Spartans also shot a respectable 16-of-21 from the charity stripe.

NSU will wrap up the regular season Thursday at North Carolina A&T at 5:30 p.m. before heading to the MEAC tournament on Monday.