Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team (11-14, 10-4 MEAC) travels to the nation's capital to begin the final week of the regular season on Monday against Howard (3-25, 3-12). Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium. The Spartans are looking to extend their winning streak to four games, which would match a season high.

Media Coverage: The game will be broadcast live on WNS Hot 91.1 FM, with Ross Gordon calling the action. You can listen online for free here.

Last Time Out
Senior guard Rae Corbo scored a game-high 28 points to lead four Spartans in double figures as NSU cruised to a 95-55 win over Delaware State at Echols Hall on Monday.
 
The Spartans came out on fire, jumping out to a 17-0 lead four minutes into the game. Corbo, who hit her first six shots from the floor, scored 10 points in the first 2:55 of the game. Koryn Lawrence's three-point play with 15:58 on the clock put NSU ahead 17-0.

The Spartans used a 12-0 run later in the period to take a 31-5 lead with 10:50 left in the half. The lead swelled to as large as 36, at 51-15, shortly before the half. The Spartans shot 60 percent in the first half as Corbo (17) and Lawrence (13) combined for 30 points. NSU led by as many as 48 points in the second half. 

Corbo added four assists, four rebounds and tied her career high with five steals in her final home game. Freshman Kayla Roberts also hit the 20-point mark, scoring 20 points on 9-of-19 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Lawrence added 13 points, all in the first half.

The Spartans also got strong contributions from their other two seniors in uniform. Aivah Parham scored 10 points and Jazamine Gray tied her career high with nine points.

Scouting Howard
The Lady Bison are 3-25 overall, 3-12 in the MEAC following a 106-57 loss to Hampton on Saturday. Hampton's Malia Tate-DeFreitas scored a game-high 39 points, Kaylah Lupoe had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Ryan Jordan scored 16. Howard was led by Victoria Gonzales' 25 points and 15 rebounds, but no other Howard player scored more than nine. Howard had 27 turnovers and shot just 31.5 percent from the floor.
 
All-Time Series vs. Howard: NSU is just 11-30 all-time against Howard, but the Spartans were victorious in the teams' last two meetings, including a 90-71 win on Feb. 7. Prior to NSU's current two-game win streak over Howard, the Bison had won 11 in a row in the series dating back to the 2007-08 season.

Last Meeting:  Kayla Roberts and Rae Corbo combined for 51 points, leading Norfolk State to a 90-71 victory over visiting Howard on Feb. 7 at Echols Hall.

Roberts matched her career high by pouring in a game-high 26 points, while Corbo was close behind with 25 for the Spartans. NSU shot a season-best 59 percent from the floor. Koryn Lawrence added 12 points and Aivah Parham chipped in with 10 for  NSU.

Victoria Gonzales scored 18 points, Jasmine Hill 16, and Cheyenne Brown and Imani Bailey 13 apiece for Howard.

Fast MEAC Start
At 10-4 in the MEAC, the Spartans are positioned for their best MEAC slate in years. NSU currently sits in a tie for third place with North Carolina A&T headed into tonight's game, trailing Hampton (12-2) by two games in the loss column and Savannah State (11-3) by one. The top three finishers in the regular-season standings earn first-round byes in the MEAC Tournament, which runs March 9-14 at the Norfolk Scope.
More on NSU's season so far:
• NSU clinched its first winning MEAC record since 2001-02 (13-5) with its win over Coppin State on Feb. 21. Last year's 8-8 MEAC mark was the program's best – and first non-losing MEAC record – since the 2004-05 team went 9-9. 
• This year marks just the third time NSU has had a double-figure victory total in a MEAC season, joining 2001-02 (13-5) and 1999-2000 (12-6).
• NSU is assured of its highest MEAC Tournament seeding since 2001-02, when the Spartans were seeded third. Last year's No. 6 seed was NSU's highest seeding since the '01-'02 year.

Corbo the Record-Breaker
Rae Corbo already owns the school's all-time (82.3) and single-season (85.2 in 2013-14) free-throw percentage marks and is closing in on several other records:
• Corbo (1,548 points) is 37 points shy of passing Suawana Taylor (1,584) for NSU's all-time Division I-era leading scorer. Taylor and Corbo are sixth and seventh, respectively, on the school's all-time leading scoring list.
• Corbo is seven points shy of passing Taylor's single-season D-I record of 546 points scored, set in 2000-01.
• Corbo (51) is 11 3-pointers shy of breaking Trena Clark's single-season school record of 61 3-pointers made.