NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team could not overcome a slow start, falling to Bethune-Cookman, 68-58, on Saturday afternoon at Echols Hall.
 
Ashanti Hunt led Bethune-Cookman with 21 points and nine boards. She was 6-of-6 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Kailyn Williams scored 13 points, Kendra Cooper 11 and Taylor Houston 10.
 
Gabrielle Swinson, who had not played since Dec. 3, led the Spartans (10-9, 5-2 MEAC) with 13 points, a career-high seven assists and three steals.
 
The Wildcats (10-9, 6-1 MEAC) opened the game with a 10-4 run in the first three minutes and 38 seconds of the contest and led 16-9 at the end of the opening quarter.
 
In the second quarter, a Dominique Harper bucket cut NSU deficit to 16-11 at the 8:11 mark. However, Bethune-Cookman responded with a 7-2 run to take a 23-13 lead with 5:04 left to play until half. Swinson scored eight of the final 10 points for Norfolk State in the half and the Wildcats led 32-23, at the intermission.
 
Overall, Bethune-Cookman shot 46 percent from the field in the opening half and scored nine points off nine Norfolk State turnovers. The Spartans shot 37 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action.
 
Khalilah Ali and Kayla Roberts made layups in the first 46 seconds of the second half. Roberts completed a 3-point play after being fouled on her bucket, cutting the Wildcats lead to 32-28. But Bethune-Cookman answered with a 15-0 run of its own, extending its lead to 19 - the largest of the game - at the 6:08 mark of the third quarter. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and the Wildcats carried a 58-41 lead into the fourth.
 
In the final quarter, a three-point play from Alexys Long cut the lead to nine, with 5:54 to play, but that would be the closest the Spartans would get, as both teams were only able to score four points apiece the rest of the way.
 
Long matched a career-high 10 points, with five rebounds, while Roberts tallied 11 points and eight rebounds. Harper added 10 points.
 
Norfolk State shot 24-of-60 (40.0 percent) from the field, including 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from deep, while Bethune-Cookman went 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) from the field, including 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from downtown.
 
Norfolk State's two-game homestand concludes on Monday when the defending MEAC champion North Carolina A&T visits Echols Hall. The game will be begin at 5:30 p.m.