NORFOLK, Va. – A 31-10 run in the last 11 minutes of the game lifted Florida A&M over Norfolk State, 83-62, in the first MEAC game of the season on Thursday night at Joseph Echols Hall.

NSU fell to 2-5 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while FAMU improved to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in the MEAC.

Rachel Gordon, Rae Corbo and Ebony Brown led the Spartans with 16 points each. Gordon continued to well defensively and tallied 17 rebounds to post her second straight double-double of the season.

FAMU jumped out to a 5-1 lead with 19:09 to go in the first half after Jamie Foreman scored on a layup with an assist from Alicia Hines.

NSU finally got its first field-goal of the game on a jumper from Gordon with 18:19 to play. Another basket from Gordon, with 17:02 remaining before halftime tied the game at seven.

The Lady Rattlers continued to be aggressive and a jumper by Taneka Rubin with 15:29 left in the half gave FAMU a 12-9 lead over the Spartans.

NSU stayed within two-points after another layup in the paint from Gordon to make the score 19-17 with 11:57 to go before halftime. Gordon scored 15 of her 16 points in the first half.

FAMU used a 19-9 run that ended with a bucket from Kimberly Sparkman to keep the Spartans down by 12. The Lady Rattlers led NSU, 38-26.

Gordon scored NSU's last field goal of the half with 3:54 left as well as the Spartans' last points of the half after she made the back end of a one-and-one. NSU went to the locker room at halftime trailing Florida A&M 48-34.

The Spartans came out of the break on fire. Junior Quineshia Leonard sparked a 16-4 for NSU on a jumper with 19:29 left in the game. Corbo and Brown contributed to the run with a pair of 3-pointers. Freshman Dominique Harper knocked down a jumper from the corner to tie the game at 52 with 11:35 to play. NSU never led in the game.

Florida A&M responded on the other end as Rubin scored inside to retake the lead. The Lady Rattlers took the lead for good after a bucket from Jasmine Grice with 10:55 left that made the score 56-54. Grice led all scorers with 30 points.

Corbo scored NSU's last field-goal of the game with 9:17 on the clock. The Spartans continued to trail 63-58.

FAMU led by as many as 21 points after Rubin nailed a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in the first half. Rubin totaled 17 points and seven rebounds.

NSU finished the night shooting 36.2 percent (25-of-69) from the field and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the free throw line. NSU shot only 20 percent (4-of-20) from 3-point range on the night.

The Lady Rattlers shot 37.1 percent (26-of-70) overall and were 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from behind the arc. FAMU did well at the free throw line, finishing at 88.5 percent (23-of-26). Aside from Grice and Rubin, Sparkman contributed 20 points.

The Spartans will look to win its first conference game of the season on Saturday when they welcome Bethune-Cookman. Game time is at 4 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall.