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NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk State plays its first game of the 2015 calendar year and concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule at the University of South Carolina Upstate on Saturday. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. from the G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C. The game can be seen live on ESPN3.

The Spartans' final 15 games of the year after Saturday will be conference matchups.

Live on ESPN3: The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, ESPN's streaming service for computers and mobile devices. The game can be seen by clicking: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/2275780/Womens-College-Basketball-Norfolk-State-vs-USC-Upstate.
  
Last Time Out: Sabre Proctor notched game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds as host Stony Brook sent Norfolk State to its fourth straight loss, 52-46, on the second and final day of the Seawolves Holiday Classic on Monday afternoon at the Island Federal Credit Union Arena. 

The Seawolves (7-6) held NSU (2-9) to 30.6 percent shooting from the floor, the main difference in what was a tight game throughout. Stony Brook also held NSU leading scorer Rae Corbo to 6-of-18 shooting, though the Spartans' senior guard still recorded a team-high 19 points.

The teams weren't separated by more than the game's final margin of six points during the second half, which included five ties and six lead-changes. The game was tied for the last time after NSU guard Brehanna Daniels' jumper knotted the score at 40 with 5:44 remaining. After that field goal, the Spartans came up empty on six of their next seven possessions.

Nia Roberts had nine points, eight rebounds and three steals for NSU.

Scouting USC Upstate: USC Upstate, also known as the Spartans, enters the game with a 7-6 overall record after a 61-60 loss at the College of Charleston on Tuesday. That loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Spartans, which included a 60-38 win over Maryland Eastern Shore. USC Upstate is 1-1 against MEAC teams this year, having also lost 60-50 at South Carolina State on Nov. 25. 

Upstate was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun preseason poll. Junior center Brittany Starling was voted to the preseason A-Sun all-conference team. Starling is averaging 13.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this year. Sharmayne Edwards is averaging 13.5 points per outing.

All-Time Series vs. USC Upstate: NSU owns a 4-1 all-time series edge against USC Upstate, but the Spartans from South Carolina won the most recent meeting, a 71-64 overtime contest on  Nov. 15, 2012. Brittany Starling, then a freshman, scored 10 points in that matchup. Rae Corbo scored 15 and Ebony Brown nine for NSU, which shot 34 percent from the floor compared to Upstate's 46.

The teams have split a pair of meetings since NSU moved up to Division I. The first three series meetings came when NSU was in Division II.

Rae of Sunshine: Rae Corbo has ridden the momentum of her strong close to 2013-14 to an even stronger start to her redshirt senior season. More on the 5-6 guard from Englewood, N.J.:
• Corbo became the 21st player in Spartan women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points at NSU when she scored a season-high 24 points in the MEAC Tournament loss to UMES in March, which also helped her earn a spot on the MEAC All-Tournament Team.
• Corbo has quickly shot up the NSU career scoring charts with her fast start to the 2014-15
season. She is currently 10th all-time at NSU in career points scored.
• Corbo leads the MEAC and ranks 17th nationally in scoring, at 21.3 points per game. 
• Corbo also ranks third in the MEAC in free throw percentage (88.6) and minutes played (34.5), fourth in 3-pointers made (1.8 per game), seventh in 3-point percentage (32.3), ninth in assists (2.8) and 14th in field-goal percentage (40.4).
• Corbo set a school single-season record by hitting 85.2 percent of her free throws (109-of-128) in 2013-14. 
• Corbo is also the school's all-time free-throw percentage leader. Her current percentage is 81.0, and she has made 62-of-70 (88.6 percent) so far this year.
• Corbo won two MEAC Player of the Week honors in December, the first two in her career.