NORFOLK, Va. – A 14-0 Old Dominion run in the fourth quarter proved too much to overcome as Norfolk State women's basketball dropped its second-straight game to open the 2018-19 season, 69-53 at the Ted Constant Center on Friday night.
 
Early offensive struggles put the Spartans (0-2) in a 17-point hole early in the second quarter, but NSU scrapped its way back into the game. At one point, the Spartans cut the Monarchs' (2-0) deficit to four points and entered the break down 33-27.
 
For the second game in a row, NSU shot below 35 percent from the field, making 31.5 percent of its 54 shot attempts in the game. Those misses, coupled with 21 turnovers, gave ODU ample opportunity to run, which it did to the tune of 18 fast-break points.
 
The Monarchs shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) against the Spartans, including an 8-of-18 performance from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
A quartet of ODU players broke double figures in scoring, led by Taylor Edwards' 15. Freshman Ajah Wayne continued the strong start to her career with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
 
Three Spartans cracked double digits on Friday night as Alexys Long, Raven Russell and La'Deja James all collected 12 points apiece. James made four of her nine shots, including a pair of treys, and grabbed six rebounds.
 
The Spartans suffered another slow start on offense, making just one of their 12 shot attempts in the first 10 minutes of action, falling behind 17-6 after the first quarter.
 
NSU did not score until the 5:07 mark of the period on a pair of foul shots by Dana Echols. The Spartans' first field goal came over two minutes later, when Russell scored in the paint to cut the deficit to 7-4.
 
Following Russell's basket, the Monarchs jumped ahead to a 10-point lead, 14-4, on the strength of a 7-0 run. Mariah Adams punctuated the run with a trey just inside the final minute of the game.
 
ODU found easy buckets in transition in the first quarter, scoring eight of their points on the fast break. Norfolk State committed eight turnovers during the period, giving the Monarchs opportunities to run.
 
In the second quarter, NSU turned to its defense to create a spark. Head coach Larry Vickers' squad out-scored the Monarchs 21-16 in the period and entered the intermission trailing by six, 33-27.
 
The quarter did not start well for the Spartans, and ODU built its lead to 17 points on the strength of a 6-0 run. After that run, NSU scored 11 of the next 15 points to pull to within 10, 27-17.
 
James proved to be a catalyst for NSU in the second quarter. The Virginia Beach native began the Spartan run with a steal, which led to a 3-pointer by Alexys Long. Less than a minute later, James corralled her own miss and put it back in to make the score 23-13 with 6:50 to play.
 
Down 29-17 with under four minutes to play in the half, James scored the next five points to cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since the very end of the first quarter. Her final basket of the quarter, a trey with 1:40 to go, brought the Spartans to within six, 31-25.
 
When the dust settled, James ended the second quarter with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
 
After an even start to the third quarter, Old Dominion broke away with an 11-2 run to undo all of the Spartans' hard work. NSU scored just four points in nearly six minute's time, missing three of its four shots and turning the ball over four times during the span.
 
Kendrea Dawkins started a quarter-closing 7-0 run by NSU on a fast break layup following a takeaway by Danyael Goodhope. Goodhope had a hand in all seven points of the run, assisting on the final three buckets of the quarter.
 
Playing in her hometown, Goodhope recorded a career-high six assists and chipped in two steals as well.
 
The comeback seemed to be in full force after De'Janaire Deas started the fourth quarter with a paint bucket to cut ODU's lead to 49-43, but the Monarchs put all hopes of a comeback to rest by rattling off the next 14 points.
 
NSU missed five straight shot attempts and gave the ball away three times as Old Dominion pushed the its lead to 63-43, the largest of the night.
 
Long halted the run by making a pair of free throws, but the Monarchs kept the Spartans at bay for the remainder of the night, as the lead never dipped below 14 points.
 
Norfolk State returns to action on Tuesday night in its home opener against Cheyney. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.