S.C. State (7-9, 3-3 MEAC) at Norfolk State (0-16, 0-6)
Saturday, Jan. 23 * 4 p.m.
Echols Hall * Norfolk, Va.
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NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team (0-16, 0-6 MEAC) looks to turn the page and start anew this weekend as the Spartans return home to play host to South Carolina State (7-9, 3-3) on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. The game has been designated Faith, Family and Friends Day at Echols Hall.
 
Scouting NSU: Norfolk State dropped a pair of games in its MEAC North Carolina road trip last weekend, falling 63-62 at North Carolina Central on Saturday and 64-53 to North Carolina A&T on Monday. Against A&T, NSU committed a season-high 28 turnovers, which led to 26 Aggie points. NSU held N.C. A&T to just 39.7 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers, but the Spartans couldn't overcome their own miscues and 34.5 percent shooting.

Brehanna Daniels scored a career-high 12 points and Kayla Roberts also scored 12 for NSU, which was playing without leading scorer Siobhan Beslow. Yazmen Hannah chipped in with eight points.
 
Scouting SCSU: The Lady Bulldogs have dropped two of their last three following a 63-56 home setback against Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday night. UMES shot 56 percent from the floor while holding SCSU to 40 percent on the night. Ashleigh Outler scored 15 points and Brittany Drumgoole 14 for SCSU. The pair combined to make seven of the Lady Bulldogs' eight 3-pointers on the night. SCSU went just 4-of-7 from the free-throw line.

The Lady Bulldogs do not have a player averaging in double figures this season. Drumgoole leads the way with 9.5 points per game. Six other players average at least 5.0 points per contest.
 
All-Time Series vs. SCSU: Norfolk State leads the all-time series with SCSU, 18-17. The Lady Bulldogs won last year's meeting, 79-75, in Orangeburg and have won four of the last five in the series. The teams have not played at Echols Hall since the 2011-12 season.
 
NSU Announces Women's Basketball Changes: Norfolk State University Director of Athletics Marty L. Miller announced Wednesday afternoon that Spartan head women's basketball coach Debra Clark has been reassigned within the department, effective immediately. Larry Vickers, associate head coach of the NSU men's program, will assume the role of interim head women's coach for the remainder of the season.

"I want to thank coach Clark for her commitment and service to the women's basketball program," Miller said. "But I felt that now was the time to make a change to move the program in a different direction."
 
Clark was in her seventh season at NSU and had a 58-129 record coaching the Spartans. Vickers will also continue to assist with the NSU men's basketball program in addition to his role with the women's program.
 
This and That: Some recent statistical trends and notes for the Spartan women:
• NSU has allowed fewer than 65 points in three straight games, its first such streak this year.
• The Spartans blocked a season-best eight shots at N.C. A&T, with Shayla Tanner blocking a career-high six. No Spartan has had more in a game since Dec. 8, 2007, when Tiffany Gadsden had eight against Southern.
• Brehanna Daniels scored a career-high 12 points against N.C. A&T, her first time in double figures as a Spartan.
• NSU held Bethune-Cookman to two first-quarter points last Monday, fewest by an NSU opponent this year.
• The Spartans had a season-high 11 steals in the loss to B-CU, with the starting five of Basey, Hannah, Lawrence, Roberts and Beslow accounting for 10 of those. Roberts had three, giving her seven in the last two games.
• The B-CU game marked the second time in three games that NSU did not have a double-figure scorer. Kayla Roberts and Siobhan Beslow led NSU with eight points each.
• The Spartans shot a season-high 72.7 percent (16-22) from the free-throw line and committed a season-low 12 turnovers against FAMU.
• Kiara Phillips reached double digits in scoring for the third time as a Spartan last Saturday with 15 points against NCCU.
 
Tanner's Coming Out Party: With NSU's frontcourt thinned by injuries, sophomore Shayla Tanner has gotten extended playing time as of late and made the most of it. She had her coming out party in her home state last weekend. The Raleigh, N.C. native had four points, four rebounds and four blocks in the loss at NCCU. On Monday against N.C. A&T, she got her first start of the year, playing a career-high 29 minutes while recording career highs in rebounds (nine) and blocks (six). The six blocks are tied for the fifth-most in a game in school history.