NORFOLK, Va. – Junior Aivah Parham had a career-high 34 points and 12 rebounds to snap a six-game losing streak as the Norfolk State women's basketball team defeated Morgan State 81-68 on Monday night at Joseph Echols Hall. It was the Spartans first MEAC win of the regular season and the 81 points was the most scored by NSU all season.

NSU improved to 1-5 in the MEAC and 3-14 on the season while Morgan State fell to 2-3 in the conference and 5-13 overall.

Parham's 34 points was the first time an NSU player scored 30 points in a game since Feb. 25, 2012  when Whitney Long scored 32 points .

The Spartans got on the board first with a jumper by Aivah Parham with 19:33 to go in the first half.

Morgan State responded with a 14-7 run as Briana Coardes drained a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Lady Bears a 14-9 lead over NSU with 12:03 left before halftime. All 18 of Coardes points were 3-pointers.

Junior Rachel Gordon made a layup to cap a 20-5 run for NSU to give the Spartans a 29-19 lead over Morgan State with 2:53 remaining in the first half

The Lady Bears would not give up and came within two with a 3-pointer by Whitney Southerland with 52 seconds left before halftime to make the score 32-30.

Parham made a pair of free throws with four seconds left to send the Spartans into halftime with a 34-30 lead over Morgan State.

The Spartans came out hot in the second half as Parham had back to back jumpers to give NSU a 38-30 lead over Morgan State with 18:17 remaining in regulation.

Coardes answered for the Lady Bears with a pair of back to back 3-pointers with 17:15 left but Morgan State continued to trail, 40-36.

Gordon sparked an 8-0 run for the Spartans with 17:15 to go as NSU continued to lead 48-36.

Morgan State's Tracey Carrington made a pair of free throws to cap a 7-0 run for the Lady Bears with 13:16 left in regulation to make the score 48-43.

Sophomore Ebony Brown made a free throw with 10:10 left to give the Spartans a 55-45 lead over Morgan State. NSU shot 80.6 (29-of-36) percent from the line on the night

Morgan State continued to push and Bianca Jarrett's jumper with 8:06 remaining made the score 55-52 to bring the Lady Bears within three.

Kashay Barnes layup with 3:09 left in regulation capped an 11-4 run by the Spartans to give them a 70-56 lead over the Lady Bears.

Coardes scored the last points for Morgan State as she drained a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left but it was not enough to overtake NSU.

NSU outrebounded Morgan State 50-38 and outscored the Lady Bears 30-10 in the paint. The Spartans also outscored Morgan State 17-8 on second chance points.

NSU  held the Lady Bears to 30.8 (20-of-65) percent shooting from the field. Three Morgan State players reached double figures including Coardes, who led the Lady Bears with 18 points. Bianca Jarrett logged 13 points and five rebounds and Whitney Southerland tallied 11 points in the loss to NSU.

The Spartans shot 40.0 (26-of-65) percent from the floor and NSU was 0-of-3 from behind the arc. This was the third time this season the Spartans failed to make a 3-pointer.

Aside from Parham, Gordon was the only other Spartan in double-figures. She had her third double-double of the season as she finished the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds. The last time NSU had two players score 20 points in one game was Feb. 4, 2008. The last time the Spartans had two players with a double-double was against Morgan State on Jan. 28, 2012 where Gordon had 16 points and 19 rebounds and Batavia Owens had 13 points and 16 rebounds.

The Spartans will return to action on Jan. 26 when they face Hampton at 4 p.m. in Joseph Echols Hall.