Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Video & Audio
NORFOLK, Va. – The Spartans will host North Carolina Central in the final game of the regular season on Thursday. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall. The game is also designated as senior night and NSU will honor lone senior Rachel Gordon.
Media Coverage: The game will be broadcast live on 1310 AM-WGH. Live stats will be available here. Live audio and video will also be available here.
All-Time Series: NSU leads the series with N.C. Central, 15-14.
Spartans Need to Finish Strong: A win against NCCU would give the Spartans their best MEAC record and highest finish in the conference since their championship season in 2001-02.
MEAC Tournament Seeding On the Line: Entering the final game of the regular season, both NSU and Bethune-Cookman have an 8-7 record. An NSU win and a B-CU loss would give the Spartans a No. 6 seed. NSU could also get the No. 6 seed if B-CU and the Spartans lose, as NSU owns the tiebreaker over the Lady Wildcats due to their win against B-CU earlier in the year. If both the Spartans and B-CU win, NSU would get the No. 7 seed only if Savannah State also lost to South Carolina State.
Scoring Leaders: Rae Corbo leads NSU in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per game followed by Rachel Gordon, who is averaging 11.6 points per game. Ebony Brown rounds out the top-three scoring leaders for NSU, averaging 8.5 points per game.
Breaking 1,000 Points: Rae Corbo has 978 career points at NSU. She needs only 22 more to become a member of the "1,000 Point Club" at NSU. Rachel Gordon has 964 career points and needs only 36 more to break 1,000.
NCAA, MEAC Leaderboard: Rachel Gordon currently ranks No. 7 in the nation in rebounds per game and Rae Corbo is No. 45 in free throw percentage.
Gordon ranked 16th in career rebounding among active players through March 2. She also ranks 14th in career rebounding average at 9.8. Corbo ranked 46th in career free throw percentage among active players through March 2.
As a team, NSU currently ranks in the top 5 in seven different categories in the MEAC, while NSU players rank in the top 5 in four different categories, including Rachel Gordon, who leads the league in rebounds, averaging 12.0 rebounds per game. Rae Corbo also leads the league in free throw percentage at 85.0 percent on the season.
Last Time Out: Four Spartans scored in double figures to give NSU a 61-57 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.
Freshman Dominique Harper led the balanced scoring effort for NSU as she finished the game with 12 points. Junior Rae Corbo and freshman Koryn Lawrence contributed 11 points each. Lawrence also grabbed seven rebounds. Junior Quineshia Leonard posted a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. Also scoring for NSU was senior Rachel Gordon, junior Jazamine Gray and freshman Logan Powell. They finished the game with eight, six and three points, respectively.
After shooting 40.0 percent (12-of-30) in the first 20 minutes of the game, NSU led UMES, 26-20, at the half. The Lady Hawks opened the half with a pair of layups by Jessica Long that sparked a 15-9 run. Shawnee Sweeney closed out the run with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 35 with 15:33 left to play.
Both teams traded baskets over the next six minutes and Leonard knocked down a jumper with 9:07 left to tie the game again at 43. NSU forced the Lady Hawks to call timeout with 6:30 left to play after a pair of back-to-back buckets from Jazamine Gray. The Spartans continued to play aggressively and extended their lead to 58-49 after a layup from Lawrence with 3:56 left to play.
The Lady Hawks closed out the half on an 8-3 run that included four free throws, but it was not enough to overtake the Spartans.
For the game, NSU shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the field and were only 25 percent (3-of-12) from 3-point range. The Spartans also shot 50 percent (8-of-16) from the free throw line. Defensively, the Spartans outrebounded UMES, 46-40.
Long was the only UMES player to score in double figures. She led UMES with 19 points and four steals. The Lady Hawks shot 30.3 percent (20-of-66) and 93.3 percent (14-of-15) from the free throw line.
About NCCU: The Lady Eagles (10-18, 5-10) suffered a 74-50 loss to Savannah State on Monday night at the McDougald-McLendon Gym in Durham, N.C. For the game, NCCU shot only 26.9 percent (14-of-52) from the field and was 4-of-11 from behind the arc. The Lady Eagles also finished the game shooting 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the free throw line. Raquel Davis led NCCU with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jessica Freeman and Khyra Conerly also scored in double figures, finishing the game with 11 points each.
On the season, the Lady Eagles are averaging 55.8 points and 39.1 rebounds per game. Freeman leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. Davis is second in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game. Conerly rounds out the top three scorers for the Lady Eagles, averaging 9.3 points per game.
Last Time Against NCCU: A tight game in which the biggest lead of the day was just six points, North Carolina Central's domination on the boards led to a 62-56 win over the Norfolk State on Feb. 19, 2011 at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.
Rae Corbo led the way for NSU with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Tyisha Bridges and Sarah Daily each tallied 12 points. Rachel Gordon had a team-high seven rebounds with six points, and Marian Brooks added six points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
N.C. Central had a 19-4 edge in offensive rebounds, which led to a 26-3 advantage in second-chance points. The Eagles hit just 32.8 percent for the game on 22-of-67 shooting, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range. NSU, meanwhile, connected on a solid 44.2 percent of its shots on 23-of-52 shooting. The Spartans had a 6-of-12 effort from beyond the arc.
N.C. Central also was 17-of-23 on free throws, while NSU was just 4-of-11. Shanise Blanks missed all 13 of her floor shots for the Eagles.
