TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida A&M held off a late push by the Norfolk State women's basketball team as the Spartans fell 59-51 at the Al Lawson Center on Saturday afternoon.

Norfolk State's Alexys Long registered a career-high 15 points, with 13 of those coming in the first half.

Dawn King made a layup giving Florida A&M (9-17, 7-6) its largest lead of the game at 55-42, with 3 minutes and 8 seconds remaining. Facing a 13 point deficit, the Spartans (14-11, 9-4) made one final run over the next 92 seconds and cut the lead to four, at 55-51. Jordan Strode made two free throws with 3:01 to go, starting the 9-0 run. Dominique Harper completed the run by knocking down two shots of her own at the free-throw line with 1:36 remaining.

However, the Lady Rattlers sealed the victory at the free-throw line. They went 4-for-8 down the stretch, allowing the Spartans to stay within striking distance. But Norfolk State missed its final five shots, including three desperation 3-pointers in the final 22 seconds.

Florida A&M led most of the game, but the Spartans answered every run the Lady Rattlers made throughout the game, including two in the first half, to stay close.

Norfolk State jumped out to an early 7-3 lead when Harper made a layup just 3:56 into the game. However, Shakerrya Morrison followed up Alicia McCray's miss, starting an 11-0 run by Florida A&M. Shalaunda Burney-Robinson completed the spurt with another put-back of a missed shot with 2:32 left in the opening frame. Long nailed a triple at the horn, as the Spartans closed the quarter on a 7-0 run of their own to knot the score at 14-all.

The Lady Rattlers scored 10 of the first 12 points to open up a 24-16 lead with 3:53 left before intermission.

That is when Long took over, bringing her Spartans to within two by scoring the final eight points of the half for Norfolk State. She went 3-for-4 from the field, including her only attempt from 3-point range, during the stretch. Long was fouled on a jumper at the 3:26 mark and made the ensuing free throw to complete the 3-point play, beginning the run. Her layup with 58 seconds left pulled her team within two at 26-24, but that would be the closest the Spartans would get the rest of the way.

Once again, Florida A&M appeared as if it was going to pull away in the third period. The Lady Rattlers outscored the Spartans 16-11 in the third period to lead by seven at 42-35, heading to the final frame. Florida A&M opened the quarter with a 13-7 run, before Norfolk State made its final push.
Harper added 11 points and a game-high three assists. Sidelined for most of the opening 20 minutes due to two early fouls, Kayla Roberts registered nine points and seven rebounds.

Florence Ouattara led the Lady Rattlers in scoring with 12 points. McCray and Morrison added 11 points each.

Norfolk State was held to its worst shooting performance of the season by going 18-of-37 (24.7 percent, while Florida A&M went 20-of-57 (35.1 percent)

The Lady Rattlers dominated the glass and outrebounded Norfolk State 56-44.

Norfolk State will take on the top team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference when it faces Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Monday at 5:30 p.m.