Norfolk State Women's Basketball
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team will travel to Greensboro to take on another set of Spartans - from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Both teams look to enter the Christmas break above .500 and on a two-game winning streak.
About NSU: Senior guard
Dominique Harper led the Spartans by registering her first career double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Norfolk State defense blanketed visiting Lincoln (Pa.) in a 62-28 victory on Sunday at Joseph Echols Hall.
The win improved the Spartans to 5-5 on the season, while Lincoln fell to 3-8 on the season.
The 28 points scored by Lincoln was the fifth-fewest points allowed in program history and the fewest in the school's Division I era. It was the fewest points allowed by a Spartans' team since they allowed 28 at Livingstone on Jan. 3, 1994.
About UNCG: The Spartans have won two of their last five games after defeating North Carolina Central 64-51 on Sunday. UNCG led by nine after three quarters before allowing North Carolina Central to close to within four points at 48-44 with 6:26 left in the game. The Spartans closed the game on a 16-7 run to even their record at 6-6.
Nadine Soliman led the way for UNCG with 19 points. She added four rebounds, four steals and one assists. Alexis Pitchford and Te'ja Twitty joined Soliman in double-digit scoring. Pitchford recorded 14 points and six rebounds, while Twitty tallied 12 points and seven rebounds.
All-Time Series vs. UNCG: The two programs have split the four all-time meetings, with Norfolk State earning victories in the first two meetings, while UNCG is on a two-game winning streak. Each team has been victorious at home and on the road.
Norfolk State could not withstand a furious rally the last four minutes of the game and fell to UNCG, 73-66, at Joseph Echols Hall on Nov. 20, 2013.
NSU led by as many as 12 points, 52-40, after Rae Corbo hit a jumper with 10:37 left in the game. The game was tied 10 times on the night. UNCG took the lead for good after a jumper from Janae' Stevenson.
Corbo led NSU with 22 points, four assists and two steals. Ebony Brown totaled 19 points in NSU's loss.
Stevenson all scorers with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Lucy Mason contributed 13 points and five steals for UNCG.
Roberts Setting the Pace: Junior forward
Kayla Roberts has recorded five double-double performances.
• Her five double-doubles is good enough to be tied for first in the MEAC and are seventh-most in the country.
• Three in a row at against Lehigh, Hartford and Longwood in late November.
• Leads the team in scoring (12.9 ppg), rebounding (9.8 rpg), blocks (1.1 bpg) and minutes-per-game (30.1).
• Third on the team with 2.3 assists per game.
Roberts Earns MEAC Honor: Norfolk State junior forward
Kayla Roberts was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 12-18. This is her second such honor of the season.
She recorded 21 rebounds, five steals and two block against William & Mary and Lincoln (Pa.). Offensively, she averaged 11.0 points and 2.5 assists. Fifteen of her 21 boards came on the defensive glass. Roberts moved into 17th all-time in school history with her two blocks against William & Mary. She tallied three steals against Lincoln as the Spartans defense allowed just 28 points, which is the fifth-fewest surrendered in school history and the fewest allowed in the Division I era.
Defensive Dominance: Norfolk State held Lincoln (Pa.) scoreless for 13 minutes and 54 seconds in Norfolk State's 62-28 victory on Dec. 18. NSU held Lincoln without a field goal for 22:16, stretching from McKenzie Spencer's jumper in the first quarter until Jaeda Davis' layup with 8:17 left in the game. The Lady Lions managed just two free throws in the third quarter. They were 0-of-10 from the floor in the second and 0-for-10 in the third quarter as well and trailed 45-10 entering the final period. The 28 points was the fewest points allowed by a Spartans' team since they surrendered 28 at Livingstone on Jan. 3, 1994.
Super Sub: Senior guard
Dominique Harper has been the best and most consistent player coming off the bench for the Spartans this season. Prior to this season she had appeared in 73 games for the green and gold and averaged 3.8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. Here are some notes on her 2016-17 season to date:
• Averaging 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game.
• Second on the team and fifth in the conference in field goal percentage at 46.3 percent
• Third on the team with 1.4 steals per game.
• Third on the team and 20th in the MEAC in points per game.
• Third in minutes played per game.
• Fourth in assists at 2.1 per game and in rebounds.
Double-Digit Scoring: Senior guard
Jordan Strode has scored in double figures in six of nine games she has played in, including a career-high 23 points against Longwood.
• Leads team in free-throws (35) and free-throw attemps (48)
• Second on the team in scoring (12.7ppg), assists (2.7 apg), 3-point field goals (11), and 3-point field-goal attempts (39)
• Third on the team in 3-point field-goal percentage (28.2) and rebounding (5.4 ppg)
Uncharted Waters: The Spartans have won five non-conference games and three of their last four. The program has not experienced the early season success since the 2011-12 season. That season Norfolk State won four of its first five games to open the season and tallied five non-conference wins. The last time a Spartans team won more than three non-conference games away from Joseph Echols Hall was during the 2010-11 season.
