NSU Women (0-7) at William & Mary (7-1)
Thursday, Dec. 17
Kaplan Arena, 7 p.m.
Game Notes  |  Live Stats  |  Live Video

NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team (0-7) opens a stretch of four road games to end its December slate this week with a short trip up Interstate 64 to The College of William & Mary (7-1). The teams square off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kaplan Arena. The Spartans are still seeking their first win of the season while W&M enters on a five-game winning streak.

Scouting NSU: NSU fell to 0-7 on the season with a 61-57 home loss to UNC Wilmington on Sunday night. The Spartans led 20-19 after one quarter, but fell behind by six at the half and could never catch the Seahawks. NSU was done in by UNCW's 17 second-chance points and an 18-7 deficit on the offensive glass. The Spartans, who shot 40 percent for the game, committed 23 turnovers in the loss. NSU stayed in the game by holding UNCW to just 31.5 percent shooting from the floor.

Koryn Lawrence and Yazmen Hannah scored 12 points apiece for NSU. Siobhan Beslow added six points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss.
                
Scouting W&M: William & Mary claimed its fifth straight victory on Saturday, Dec. 5 at Clemson, a 58-41 win that helped the Tribe tie its best-ever start (7-1) as a Division I program. The Tribe trailed 28-18 after one quarter, then clamped down defensively, holding the Tigers to just 13 points over the final three periods. W&M surrendered a total of six points in the second half.

Marlena Tremba led W&M with 14 points and 10 assists. Abby Rendle scored 13 points and Ali Engelhardt 10 for the Tribe, who were picked to finish sixth in the 10-team Colonial Athletic Association this year. Tremba, a preseason All-CAA second-team pick, leads W&M with 15.8 points per game.
                                
All-Time Series vs. W&M: William & Mary holds an 11-7 all-time edge in the series with NSU. The Tribe has won the last 10 meetings between the teams, including a 79-76, double-OT win in Norfolk on Nov. 28, 2011 in the teams' last meeting. NSU's last victory was a 55-52 home win on Nov. 29, 1999. The Spartans won the first six meetings and seven of the first eight between the teams, but the Tribe has controlled the series in the 21st century.

Beslow at Her Best: Siobhan Beslow continues to impress seven games into her senior season at NSU. The La Salle University graduate transfer notched her third double-double of the year at Morgan State, leading the team in scoring (14) and rebounding (13). She now ranks in the top 15 in the MEAC in seven different categories, including first in offensive rebounds (5.1), second  in both total rebounds (9.3) and field goal percentage (53.8) and fourth in blocks (1.4 average).

Shaking off the Start: NSU has started the season 0-7 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. That year's team started 0-22.

Promising Start for Hannah: Freshman guard Yazmen Hannah has lived up to her reputation of being a scorer. She had nine points in her debut vs. USC Upstate and reached double figures for the first time with 10 points at Loyola. That helped her earn her first career start against Oakland, and she didn't disappoint. Hannah scored a career-high 17 points, including 14 in a fourth-quarter rally that almost helped the Spartans overcome a 16-point deficit. She is averaging 9.1 points through seven games, has scored in double figures four times in the last five outings, and has made nine of NSU's 15 3-pointers on the season.

Long Finds the Range: Freshman guard Alexys Long scored a season-high nine points and hit her first collegiate 3-pointer in the loss to UNCW in a season-high 19 minutes played. Long, one of three freshman guards on the roster, is being counted on to provide some scoring punch and outside shooting off the bench for the Spartans this year.