Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team looks to close out the regular-season with a win against North Carolina A&T on Thursday night at Joseph Echols Hall. It is also senior night and the Spartans will honor a trio of seniors: Marian Brooks, Batavia Owens, and Recca Trice. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
Media Coverage: The game against North Carolina A&T will be broadcast live on WNSB Hot 91.1 with Ross Gordon on the call. Live stats will be available
here. Live audio will also be available here.
Last Time Out: Sophomore Ebony Brown drained a 3-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to send the NSU into overtime with Florida A&M, but the Spartans could not come out with a victory as they fell to the Lady Rattlers, 84-76, on Monday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
FAMU shot 48.3 (29-of-60) percent from the field on the night. Jasmine Grice led all scorers with 42 points to set a season-high MEAC scoring record. Aside from Grice, Kimberly Sparkman was the only other FAMU player to finish the game in double-figures. She closed out the game with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.
NSU was held to 41.2 (28-of-68) percent shooting. Brown led NSU with 24 points while Rachel Gordon added 12 points, four rebounds and two steals, respectively. Batavia Owens also contributed for the Spartans as she posted her 12th career double-double with 21 points and 19 rebounds. Owens also had a career-high five assists. Owens' 19 rebounds in the game against FAMU moved her into 12th place all-time in the NSU record book for career rebounds. She is now tied with Kristi Green with 608 career rebounds.
NSU outrebounded the Lady Rattlers, 40-38, and also outscored them, 28-24, in the paint.
All-Time Series: NSU leads, the series with North Carolina A&T, 15-14.
About North Carolina A&T: Senior JaQuayla Berry posted 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead N.C. A&T (20-8, 12-3) over Savannah State, 58-57, on Monday night at Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C. Tracy King also had 13 points, while Eboni Ross added 11 points and seven rebounds, respectively.
The Aggies shot 35.6 (21-of-59) percent on the evening. Savannah State was 39.2 (20-of-51) percent from the field.
Last Time Against North Carolina A&T: The Norfolk State women's basketball team ended a 10-game losing streak to North Carolina A&T as the Spartans held on for a 54-51 win over the Aggies on March 1, 2012, in both teams' regular season finale at the Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C.
NSU had two players finish in double-figures, which included Whitney Long, who had 18 points and three steals. Tyisha Bridges added 10 points and seven rebounds, respectively.
The Aggies were led by Tiffanie Addair with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Amber Calvin was the only other player in double figures with 10, and she also had a game-high five assists.
Scoring Leaders: Rachel Gordon leads NSU in scoring averaging 10.8 points per game followed by Aivah Parham, who is averaging 9.2 points per game.
Brown On Fire: Ebony Brown scored 24 points to lead the Spartans in scoring against FAMU on March 4. She was 50.0 (10-of-20) percent from the field on the night.
Brown had a career-high 26 points in the Spartans loss to Radford on Dec. 13. She shot 57.1 (4-of-7) percent from 3-point range.
Double-Doubling: Batavia Owens had 21 points and 19 rebounds against FAMU to claim her 12th career and second double-double of the season. Owens' 19 rebounds in the game against FAMU moved her into 12th place all-time in the NSU record book for career rebounds. She is now tied with Kristi Green with 608 career rebounds.
Quineshia Leonard posted her third double-double of the season as she finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the game against B-CU on March 2.
Rachel Gordon tallied her sixth double-double of the season in the game against Delaware State on Feb. 23 as she came away with 11 points and 11 rebounds. This was Gordon's 15th double-double of her career.
Winning the Rebounding Battle: NSU outrebounded FAMU, 40-38, on March 4, with Batavia Owens leading the way with 19 rebounds.
Owning the Paint: NSU outscored FAMU in the paint, 28-24, on March 4. Last season NSU dominated the inside scoring, averaging 6.8 more points in the paint per game. Only Monmouth, Howard, Hampton (first meeting) and Bethune-Cookman (first meeting) scored more points in the paint than NSU in a game last year.
Defensive Minded: Batavia Owens tallied 19 rebounds in the Spartans 84-76 overtime loss to FAMU on March 4. Rachel Gordon currently ranks second in the MEAC in rebounding, averaging 9.9 rebounds per game.
MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: As a team NSU currently ranks in the top 5 in five different categories in the MEAC, while NSU players also rank in the top 5 in six different categories, including Rachel Gordon, who ranks second in the league in rebounding at 9.9 boards per game. Gordon also currently ranks 37th in the NCAA in rebounding. Recca Trice is second in the league for assists and is ranked 26th in the nation in assists per game.
Cracking the top 10: Rachel Gordon's eight rebounds in the game against Coppin State on Jan. 19 moved her into 11th place all-time in the NSU record book for career rebounds. Gordon has 227 rebounds on the season and her 694 career rebounds puts her 17 away from tying Andrea Watts for 10th all-time.
