NORFOLK, Va. – Maryland Eastern Shore would not go down without a fight as Shawnee Sweeney nailed a 3-pointer to cap a 22-4 run with 27 seconds left in the game, but it was not enough as the Norfolk State women's basketball team survived a late second half run to claim a 54-51 victory on Monday night at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Spartans improved to 3-8 in the MEAC and 5-17 on the season while UMES fell to 2-7 in the conference and 6-14 overall.

Rachel Gordon led NSU as she tallied her second consecutive double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. This was Gordon's 14th career and fifth double-double of the season.

UMES scored first with a layup by Sweeney with 19:56 to go in the first half to give UMES a 2-0 lead over the Spartans. The bucket by Sweeney gave the Lady Hawks its only lead of the game.

Sophomore Ebony Brown drained a jumper on the other end to spark a 10-1 run for NSU with 11:16 left before halftime as the Spartans led UMES, 10-3.

UMES stayed within two with a pair of free throws from Karona Roach with 8:24 remaining in the first half to make the score 13-11.

From there Gordon got the layup with 3:00 left to cap an 11-6 run as the Spartans continued to lead the Lady Hawks, 24-17.

Sweeney's free throw with 42 seconds remaining was the last point of the half as UMES went into halftime down 26-18. UMES shot 80.0 (8-of-10) from the line in the first half.

Senior Batavia Owens got things started offensively for the Spartans with 19:13 left in the second half with a jumper to give NSU a 28-18 lead over UMES.

The Lady Hawks scored their first field-goal of the second half at the 15:00 mark with a jumper by Roach. UMES continued to trail NSU, 32-22.

The Spartans led by as many as 20 points in the second half after Owens made a layup with 9:35 remaining. This was the Spartans largest lead of the season.

Roach got the jumper with an assist from Jameelah Pickard with 9:03 remaining, but UMES still trailed, 49-31.

Gordon nailed a pair of back-to-back jumpers with 6:58 left in the game to give NSU a 53-38 lead over the Lady Hawks. Gordon's jumpers were the last field-goals of the game for the Spartans.

The Spartans continued to lead UMES 53-51 after Sweeney's 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in the game so the Lady Hawks were forced to foul and sent Brown to the line with 18 seconds left. After Brown missed the back end of a 1-and-1 with 18 seconds remaining, senior Recca Trice saved the game for the Spartans with a steal.

NSU held UMES to 23.7 (14-of-59) percent shooting on the night. This was the Spartans first time holding an opponent under 30.0 percent shooting since March 5, 2012, when they played Bethune-Cookman. Roach led the Lady Hawks with 19 points and three rebounds. Sha-Kiyla Finney was the only other UMES player to score in double-figures as she finished the game with 10 points and three rebounds.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 43.4 (23-of-53) percent from the field. Aside from Gordon, Brown also finished the night scoring in double-figures with 10 points and four rebounds.

NSU outscored UMES in the paint, 32-16 while the Lady Hawks outrebounded the Spartans 41-38.

The Spartans return to the court on Monday to face Hampton at the Convocation Center in Hampton, Va. The game will be televised live on ESPNU at 4:30 p.m.