BOCA RATON, Fla. – Two games in as many days are on the plate of Norfolk State women's basketball as the Spartans compete in the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament this Friday and Saturday.

Norfolk State (1-2) draws Bowling Green on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Then, based on Friday's results, the Spartans will face either host Florida Atlantic or St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday.
 
Series History
Friday marks the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Bowling Green. Norfolk State is 1-2 against Florida Atlantic and 0-1 versus St. Francis Brooklyn.
 
The Spartans last played FAU on Nov. 28, 2003 in an 88-71 loss at the Florida Atlantic/Embassy Suites Classic. NSU dropped its only meeting with St. Francis Brooklyn 59-55 on Dec. 30, 2015 in the Monmouth Hawk Holiday Classic.
 
The Opening Tip
Norfolk State dropped its home opener to Loyola (Md.) 61-58 on Tuesday afternoon. The Spartans led 58-56 with 17 seconds remaining in the game until Molly Taylor hit a corner 3-point field goal to put the Greyhounds ahead. NSU turned the ball over on its next possession before missing an attempt at the buzzer.
 
The Spartans erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and regained the lead on the strength of an 11-1 run. Alexys Long tied the game at 54-54 with one of her three made 3-pointers in the game. Less than 90 seconds later, Kayla Roberts put the Spartans ahead with free throws.
 
NSU shot 35.8 percent from the field in the game and made 8-of-20 (40 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
The Spartans blocked 11 shots against Loyola and have recorded 10 or more blocks in each game this season. Roberts and Khadedra Croker paced NSU with three rejections apiece. Croker upped her season block total to 13, which ranks 11th nationally. In addition, her 4.3 blocks per game rank fourth in Division I.
 
Norfolk State committed a season-high 21 turnovers on Tuesday. This marks the second time in as many games that the Spartans turned the ball over 20-plus times.
 
Roberts notched the Spartans' first double-double of the season with her 14-point, 11-rebound effort. The senior from Miami, Florida also had three assists, three blocks and three steals.
 
Alexis Gray and Stephanie Karcz combined to score 37 of the Greyhounds' 61 points. Grey made a team-high five shots from deep, while Karcz set the game high in rebounds with 17 and chipped in eight steals.

Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons (1-3) dropped their first game of the season 71-57 to Canisius on Sunday. Bowling Green led 39-35 at the break but was out-scored 19-7 in the third quarter. After shooting 40.6 percent (7-of-32) in the first half, BGSU managed only 21.9 percent (7-of-32) shooting in the second, including a 1-of-15 (6.7 percent) mark from downtown.
 
Bowling Green turned the ball over only 12 times in Sunday's game and currently rank 19th in D-I in turnovers per game (11.5). The Falcons thrive at the free-throw line, and rank second in the MAC in both free throw attempts (99) and free throws made (77).
 
Carly Santoro leads Bowling Green in per-game scoring (14.5) and rebounding (10.3) while shooting 41.5 percent from the floor. Her three double-doubles top the MAC and rank eighth nationally.
 
Scouting Florida Atlantic
The Owls (1-2) earned their first win of the season 66-58 over Indiana State on Monday. The win snapped a 21-game losing streak dating back to Dec. 16, 2016.
 
FAU sprinted ahead in the first quarter, out-scoring the Sycamores 26-13 in the first 10 minutes. After staking claim to an 11-point halftime lead, the Owls successfully held off Indiana State in the second half.
 
Sasha Cedeno scored a career-high 26 points in the win with 14 coming in the first quarter. This season, Cedeno is averaging 17.7 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting to pace the Owls.
 
Scouting St. Francis Brooklyn
Like Florida Atlantic, St. Francis Brooklyn enters Friday with a 1-2 record. The Terriers bookended a 73-52 win over Army with losses to St. John's and Manhattan.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn averages 58.7 points per game and makes 6.3 3-pointers per game on 43.2 percent shooting. The Terriers have out-rebounded the competition by four boards per game but are committing 18.7 turnovers per contest.
 
Jade Johnson averages 11.7 points per game to lead a balanced roster – nine players average at least 10 minutes of playing time per game. Johnson also leads the team with seven made 3-pointers on 43.8 percent shooting.
 
Spartans Enjoying Three-Point Renaissance
Norfolk State has a newly-found potency from behind the 3-point arc in 2017-18. Last year, NSU shot just 26.7 percent from behind the arc and made 3.9 treys per game, marks that ranked 326th and 321st in the nation, respectively.
 
Early returns from deep have been promising in 2017-18, as the Spartans are making 7.3 long balls per game on 34.4 percent shooting. NSU has shot better than 40 percent from deep in two of its three games, including a season-high 42.3 percent (11-26) in its season opening win at VCU.
 
Four Spartans are averaging at least one made 3 per game, led by Alexys Long (3.0). Long also leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage (.500). Raven Russell (45.5) and Kayla Roberts (42.9)  complete the list of NSU players shooting 40 percent or better from deep.