NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team closed out the season with a 78-47 loss to North Carolina A&T in the quarterfinals of the 2013 MEAC Tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

The Spartans finished the season 7-22 overall while N.C. A&T improved to 22-8 on the season.

Senior Batavia Owens led the Spartans with nine points and four rebounds.

NSU was held to 34.0 percent (18-of-53) shooting from the floor. Junior Rachel Gordon posted eight points and 12 rebounds. Junior Aivah Parham also contributed eight points. This was the first time since the game against Hampton on Feb. 18 that the Spartans did not have any players score in double-figures.

N.C. A&T shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field on the afternoon. The Lady Aggies had three players in double-figures, including Eboni Ross, who was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year. She led all scorers with 18 points. Ross also had eight rebounds. Tracy King tallied 13 points and four steals. Amber Calvin added 12 points and five rebounds.

The Lady Aggies started the game on a 13-0 run as King made a layup with 17:19 remaining in the first half.

The Spartans finally scored their first bucket of the afternoon for NSU with a layup from Gordon. Gordon's layup also sparked an 8-3 run for the Spartans as junior Kashay Barnes nailed a jumper with 13:08 to make the score 16-8.

From there Ross would get the layup to spark an 11-3 run as the Lady Aggies continued to lead NSU, 27-11 with 6:39 left before halftime.

Owens answered on the other end with a layup of her own on the other end with 6:16 to go to make the score 27-13. The Spartans never led during the game.

Jessica Lyons knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:23 remaining in the first half to cap a 13-0 run for the Lady Aggies. N.C. A&T led NSU, 40-13. N.C. A&T shot 75.0 percent (12-of-16) from the free-throw line, while NSU shot 68.8 percent (11-of-16).

Sophomore Quineshia Leonard got the last field-goal of the half with 1:22 to go to send NSU into halftime trailing N.C. A&T, 42-17.

King started things offensively for the Lady Aggies in the second half with a layup to give N.C. A&T a 44-17 lead over NSU with 19:49 left in regulation.

After nearly four minutes, the Owens scored the first field-goal of the half for the Spartans as they continued to trail N.C. A&T, 50-23, with 16:01 remaining in the game.

Ariel Bursey scored on back-to-back layups with 13:04 to go to give the Lady Aggies a 54-25 lead over NSU. Bursey had nine points and three rebounds on the afternoon.

Freshman Janel Cannon drained a jumper to cap a 10-4 run by the Spartans. NSU was down 59-35 with 9:27 left to play.

The Lady Aggies answered with an 8-2 run led by Ross, who drove in the lane to score again for N.C. A&T, with 7:07 left on the clock.

Sophomore Ebony Brown made a layup with 4:14 remaining to give NSU its last field-goal of the night. The Spartans were still behind the Lady Aggies, 67-44.

N.C. A&T led by as many as 31 points after Lyons nailed a 3-pointer to give the Lady Aggies a 76-45 lead over NSU. N.C. A&T shot 50.0 percent (12-of-24) from the arc. The Spartans failed to make a 3-pointer on the afternoon, shooting 0-of-10.

The Lady Aggies will either face Howard or Morgan State on Friday in the semifinals of the 2013 MEAC Tournament. Tip-off is at 2:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Scope Arena.