NORFOLK, Va. – Junior Aivah Parham scored 21 points to lift the Norfolk State women's basketball team over Bethune-Cookman, 67-40, on Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.

NSU improved to 4-10 in the MEAC and 6-19 overall while the Lady Wildcats fell to 7-7 in conference play and 12-14 overall.

The Spartans got things started with a layup by Rachel Gordon that sparked a 10-0 run to give the NSU a 10-0 lead over B-CU with 16:15 left in the first half.

Chastity René Taylor scored B-CU's first field-goal of the game as she nailed a jumper with 12:38 remaining before halftime. B-CU trailed NSU, 15-3. She led the Lady Wildcats with 19 points and three rebounds.

NSU responded on the other end as junior Kashay Barnes drained a 3-pointer with 9:31 to go in the first half to give the Spartans a 22-5 lead over the Lady Wildcats. Barneswas perfect (2-of-2) from behind the arc.

Shakeyia Colyer made a jumper with 6:29 left in the half, but B-CU continued to trail, 24-9. She finished the night with 11 points and six rebounds.

Sophomore Quineshia Leonard scored the last field-goal of the half for the Spartans with 1:32 to go to give NSU a 33-16 lead over the Lady Wildcats. Leonard posted her third double-double of the season as she finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Colyer made the last bucket of the half with 52 seconds left to send B-CU into halftime trailing NSU, 33-20.

B-CU started the second half on a 7-2 run as Taylor nailed a 3-pointer with 16:43 remaining in the game. The Lady Wildcats remained down, 35-27.

The Spartans responded with a 12-5 run that was capped by a layup by Parham with 9:39 to go as NSU continued to lead, 47-32.

Terrenisha Hollis kept B-CU within nine as she got the layup to make the score 47-36 with 8:56 left in the game.

Senior Recca Trice's jumper with 7:48 to go sparked a 16-3 run for the Spartans. Parham closed it out with a layup to give NSU a 63-39 lead over B-CU with 2:47 remaining in the game. Trice finished the game with 10 assists and she moved into second place all-time for career assists at NSU. She now has 476 career assists and 144 assists on the season.

The Lady Wildcats scored their last point of the game with a free-throw by Sharnese Neal with 2:47 left. B-CU finished the game shooting 53.8 (7-of13) percent from the line.

Freshman Tamara Majette scored the last field-goal of the game to seal the win for NSU.

The Spartans shot 61.2 (30-of-49) percent from the field on the afternoon while holding B-CU to just 23.8 (15-of-63) percent shooting. Aside from Parham and Leonard, two other NSU players finished the game scoring in double-figures. Junior Rachel Gordon tallied 10 points and two rebounds to claim her eighth-straight double-figure scoring game. Barnes also posted 10 points, respectively.

NSU outrebounded the Lady Wildcats, 36-34. The Spartans also outscored B-CU, 34-22, in the paint and outscored them off of turnovers, 30-17.

The Spartans will return to the court on Monday to take on Florida A&M at Joseph Echols Hall. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.