Norfolk State Women's Basketball

NSU at High Point	Wednesday, November 30	7 p.m.	Millis Athletic Convocation Center
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NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team will look for its second road win in three tries, when it travels to High Point, N.C. on Wednesday. The Spartans are coming off a second-place finish at the Christmas City Classic in Bethlehem, Pa.
 
About NSU: The Norfolk State women's basketball team finished second at the Christmas City Classic after a 61-51 loss to Hartford in the championship game Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University.
     
Junior forward Kayla Roberts paced the Spartans (2-4) with her second straight double-double. She scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while senior guard Dominique Harper added 11 points off the bench. Roberts and senior guard Jordan Strode were named to the all-tournament team.
    
About HPU: The Panthers have lost three consecutive games, including an 82-59 loss at West Virginia on Sunday afternoon. Freshman Camryn Brown posted a career day for High Point. She  scored 11 first-quarter points as the Panthers (1-4) trailed the Mountaineers (7-0) 28-22 after the first period. From there, WVU was able to extend its lead to 14 at the break.
    
High Point has lost four-of-five games to start the season. The other three losses have been to Ohio, Mississippi and UAB. The Panthers only win of the season came on Nov. 17, when they defeated Brevard College 89-42.

All-Time Series vs. HPU: The two programs have split the two meetings between the programs with both teams prevailing on the road.

Norfolk State won the first meeting 66-59, on Jan. 7, 1999. High Point returned the favor the next season, with a 66-62 victory at Joseph Echols Hall on Jan. 10, 2000.

Spartans Shine at the Christmas City Classic: Senior guard Jordan Strode and junior forward Kayla Roberts were named to the all-tournament team, after their outstanding performances in the two-day tournament.
    
Strode returned to the Spartans lineup after missing the George Mason game due to an injury. In the tournament opener against host Lehigh, she tallied 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes of game action. Strode notched seven points, six rebounds, four assists and one block in the championship game against Hartford.

Roberts registered a double-double in both games. She registered 23 points, 14 rebounds and three assists in the opening game. She added 15 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and one block in the tournament finale.

As a team, the Spartans shot 41.2 percent (47-of-114) from the field, including 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line in the two games. Norfolk State held its two opponents to 32.3 percent (40-of-124) from the field, including 14-of-46 (30.4 percent) from deep. NSU also held the rebounding edge 86-77.

Slow Starts for the Spartans: The beginning of the game and the second half have put the Spartans in a hole. Norfolk State has been outscored by a combined 30 points in the first and third quarters. In the first quarter NSU has been outscored 102-90, while being outscored 98-80, in the third quarter. However, the final quarters of a half are more productive for the Spartans. Norfolk State has outscored its opponents 93-72 in the second quarter and 111-94 in the fourth.

Defense Leading the Way: Head coach Larry Vickers has put an emphasis on an aggressive style of defense this season and the early returns have been promising.
•    NSU is third in the MEAC in blocked shots, with an average of 5.0 per game. The Spartans have had at least seven in three of their six games, with a season-high of 10 against St. Augustine's. Khalilah Ali and Jordan Strode are tied for eighth in the conference, with 1.0 per game. Kayla Roberts and Shayla Tanner are tied for 14th, with 0.8 per game.
•    NSU is also fifth in the MEAC in steals, with an average of 9.0 per game. The Spartans have reached double figures in steals in three of their six games, with a high of 13 at UNCW. Guard Gabrielle Swinson leads the way with 16 steals in the first six games, ranking fourth in the MEAC with 2.7 per game.
•    As a team, the Spartans also rank third in the MEAC in field-goal percentage defense, at 35.3 percent shooting allowed thus far.

Moving Parts: Head coach Larry Vickers has shuffled his players in and out of the lineup during the first six games of the season. After playing 10 of the 12 available players in the season opener, he used all 11 players available to him in the home opener and at Old Dominion. Vickers utilized every player available to him in the loss at George Mason. His bench was limited to five players at the Christmas City Classic due to injuries, however he utilized all 10 players available in the victory over Lehigh. The following day against Lehigh he played 9-of-10 players available against Hartford. No player has played more than 34 minutes in any game and all but two players havs seen at least five minutes of action in each game. Every player has at least one point, rebound or assist with 11-of-12 scoring at least one point and just one not to have grabbed at least one rebound.