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NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team (8-14, 7-4 MEAC) starts a stretch of four road games in its final five contests to close the regular season this Saturday when the Spartans meet Morgan State (9-14, 6-4) in Baltimore, Md. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House. NSU is in third place in the MEAC with MSU one of several teams jockeying for position with the Spartans entering the final three weeks of the regular season.

Media Coverage
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. Links to live statistics and live audio are available at the top of this page. 
  
Last Time Out
Visiting Maryland Eastern Shore held Norfolk State to 27.9 percent shooting and turned a big edge on the boards into a 60-50 win over the Spartans on Monday at Echols Hall.

Jessica Long scored 13 points, TeAmber Burke 12 and Moengaroa Subritzky 11 for the Hawks (8-13, 5-6). Rae Corbo led the Spartans (8-14, 7-4) with 17 points, all in the second half after she was limited to five first-half minutes by foul trouble.

Both teams started slowly, but UMES used a 12-3 run midway through the first half to take control. The Spartans shot just 23.5 percent in the first half and were whistled for 13 fouls to UMES' seven. Five NSU players had two fouls in the first half, and Corbo was one of three starters to be limited by foul trouble.

Despite that, NSU started the second half on a mission. The Spartans scored the first 17 points of the second half and eventually led by as many as five, 36-31, after a Corbo layup with 13:40 left. But UMES didn't go away. NSU held a 45-43 lead after a Dominique Harper jumper with eight minutes left, but the Hawks went on a 10-1 run over the next four minutes to seize control. Subritzky and Burke both hit key 3-pointers in the spurt, and NSU couldn't recover.

Kayla Roberts had 16 rebounds for NSU.

Scouting Morgan State
The Lady Bears (9-14, 6-4) have won six of their last nine games to shake off a rough start to their 2014-15 schedule and challenge for a spot in the upper half of the MEAC standings. MSU did lose its most recent game, a 52-49 game at NJIT on Wednesday night despite 21 points from Tracey Carrington. Carrington leads MSU with 19.3 points per game while freshman Braennan Farrar averages 12.7. MSU does own two victories over teams that NSU has lost to recently in UMES and South Carolina State.

All-Time Series vs. MSU
NSU is 19-13 all-time against Morgan State and has won three straight in the series, including a 68-63 win on Dec. 6 in Norfolk in the season's first matchup. The Spartans have won six of the last eight games against the Lady Bears.

Last Meeting
Rae Corbo scored 25 points and helped lead a strong second-half charge that carried host NSU over Morgan State 68-63 on Dec. 6. NSU overcame a six-point halftime deficit by shooting 46.7 percent in the second half. Kayla Roberts had 11 points and 17 rebounds for NSU. Jazamine Gray, Aivah Parham and Kieera Basey added eight points apiece.

Tale of 2 Games
Last week's two home games were direct opposites for NSU. In last Saturday's win over Howard, the Spartans scored 90 points, their most against a Division I opponent since Nov. 21, 2011 (94 vs. USC Upstate). NSU recorded season highs in points (90), field-goal percentage (59.0), field goals made (36), assists (19) and 3-point percentage (50.0). But NSU struggled against UMES, scoring 50 points - its worst output against a MEAC school this year. The 27.9 percent shooting the Spartans recorded against the Hawks was their second-lowest of the year.

Roberts Catching Fire
Freshman Kayla Roberts, who this week was named MEAC Rookie of the Week for the sixth time this year, has reached 10 rebounds in five of her last six games. She has 56 in her last three (15.3 rpg) and also scored a career high 26 points in that span in two straight games, vs. Hampton and Howard. Roberts is second among all conference freshmen with 11.8 points per game (13th in MEAC) and first at 9.7 rebounds per game (tied for first in MEAC). She recorded six double-doubles this season.