NORFOLK, Va. – Fresh off a two-week break from competition, the Norfolk State women's basketball team heads north for a Sunday clash with La Salle at 1 p.m. This marks the second incursion into Pennsylvania for the Spartans (3-4), who most-recently played two games at the Christmas City Classic hosted by Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.
 
The Opening Tip
Norfolk State turned in its most-complete offensive performance against a Division I opponent to date in its last game, a 66-53 win over Liberty on Nov. 25 in the consolation game of the Christmas City Classic. Five Spartans scored in double figures in the win while the team shot 40.8 percent from the field, 80.8 percent from the foul line and committed only 16 turnovers.
 
After failing to crack 20 points in the first half of its previous two contests, the Spartans netted 20 or more in each of the first two quarters against the Flames. NSU shot 44.0 percent from the field in the first half, made four of its eight attempts from deep and led 41-29 at the break.
 
A pair of former junior college teammates in Dana Echols and Raven Russell shared the game-high in scoring against the Flames with 13 apiece. Joining the duo in double digits were Khadedra Croker (11), La'Deja James (10) and De'Janaire Deas (10).
 
Echols set season highs in points and 3-pointers (two) against LU, held the game high with seven assists and shared the team lead with six rebounds. The Auburn, Alabama native was perfect in the second quarter: netting 10 points on 2-of-2 shooting, making all five free throws and not committing a single turnover.
 
The foul line factored heavily into the final outcome. NSU made 21 of their 26 attempts at the charity stripe, both season highs, while Liberty made only 10 trips to the line -- a season low for NSU opponents. In the second quarter alone, the Spartans attempted 11 free throws without a miss.
 
Liberty managed to shoot 43.8 percent against the Spartans, but 22 turnovers hindered the Flames. James was a disruptive force on defense, matching the sixth-most steals in program history with seven. The Virginia Beach native averaged 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals across the two games of the Christmas City Classic and was named to the all-tournament team.
 
Sizing up La Salle
The Explorers lost their eighth-straight contest to open the 2018-19 season on Wednesday, falling 65-34 to Penn in a Big 5 game at The Palestra. Dating back to last season, La Salle has lost 14-straight games with its last victory coming over St. Louis on Feb. 7.
 
Penn blitzed the Explorers from the opening tip -- scoring the first 13 points and shooting 66.7 percent from the field in the first quarter. After the first 10 minutes, the Quakers led 25-13 and never looked back.
 
La Salle's offense stalled out in the second and third quarters, scoring only six points on 2-of-29 (6.9 percent) shooting during that span. The Explorers missed all 14 of their attempts from deep during those two quarters as well.
 
Wednesday marked the fifth game this year that La Salle has failed to score 50 or more points. The Explorers have scored fewer than 40 points on two occasions and have not topped 46 points in each of their last three games. Entering his third full season as NSU head coach, Larry Vickers has never lost a game when allowing fewer than 50 points and has 12 wins in such contests.
 
La Salle ranks in the bottom 10-percent nationally in key statistics such as assist-to-turnover ratio (0.44, 339th), assists per game (8.1, 344th), field goal percentage (26.5, 348th), rebound margin (-13.5, 344th), scoring defense (76.0, 326th), scoring margin (-26.6, 343rd), scoring offense (49.4, 340th) and 3-point field goal percentage (17.9, 348th). No Explorer averages double digits in points, but eight players contribute at least five points per contest. Deja King and Janay Sanders pace La Salle with 7.5 and 7.0 points per game, respectively, and King also leads the team in assists (15) and steals (14).
 
Head coach Mountain MacGillivray became the ninth head coach in program history on April 21, 2018 after taking over for 2017 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Jeff Williams. Williams amassed a 62-89 record in eight seasons on the bench and was 8-22 in his final season. MacGillivray spent the last nine seasons on staff at Quinnipiac and served as associate head coach for each of the past three years. Quinnipiac turned in seven-straight 20-win campaigns and reached the Sweet 16 in 2017.
 
All-Time Series vs. La Salle
Sunday marks the second-ever meeting between the two East Coast programs. The series' first game came on Dec. 29, 2015 as part of the Monmouth Hawk Holiday Classic in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The Explorers got the best of the Spartans, 67-59, and extended NSU's losing streak to 11 games dating back to the previous season. NSU would go on to lose 20-in-a-row, finishing the 2015-16 season with a 3-24 record.
 
La Salle won the tilt on the strength of a 10-2 game-ending run. Yazmen Hannah knotted the score at 57-all with 4:10 remaining in the game, but a pair of free throws by Adreana Miller 22 seconds later gave the Explorers the lead for good as NSU missed its last six shots and turned the ball over thrice in the final four minutes.
 
Despite trailing 26-12 midway through the second quarter, the Spartans battled back with a 9-2 run to start the third period. Kiara Phillips gave NSU it's only lead of the game at the 3:47 mark of the quarter, and the two teams went into the fourth tied at 46-46.
 
Micahya Owens netted a game-high 20 points for the Explorers and made all four of her attempts from deep. Kayla Roberts was one of four Spartans in double figures with a team-high 14.
 
The Explorers and Spartans share one common opponent this season. La Salle lost to fellow MEAC member Howard, 57-54, in its season opener. Neither team shot above 30 percent in the contest and shot a combined 4-for-40 from 3-point range. Second Team Preseason All-MEAC honoree Sarah Edmond netted a game-high 22 points for the Bison in the victory, and Krislyn Marsh turned in an 11-point, 17-rebound double-double.
 
NSU vs. the A-10 Conference
The Spartans are 10-12 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. NSU has a winning record against just one A-10 program and is 8-6 all-time against in-state rival VCU. In addition, the Spartans are 2-3 against George Mason and 0-1 against Fordham, La Salle and St. Bonaventure each
 
Vickers is 1-1 against current A-10 members with a loss to George Mason and a win against VCU.
 
Norfolk State had one date against an A-10 member last season, defeating VCU 66-52 in the season opener. The Explorers are the only A-10 team on the Spartans' 2018-19 schedule.
 
It's Not How You Start
For the third-consecutive season, NSU has posted a 3-4 record in its first seven games. In the past, this slow start has not been too big to overcome as NSU finished the last two seasons with non-losing records.
 
Last season, NSU dropped to 3-4 following a 51-46 loss at East Carolina on Dec. 2. The Spartans did not lose another game until Jan. 27, winning a Division I era record nine-straight contests. Norfolk State finished the season at 18-11 for its first winning season in 16 years.
 
What's Next
The Spartans begin a stretch of four games in nine days in advance of the holiday break. NSU returns home on Wednesday to host Longwood at 6 p.m. before traveling to High Point on Saturday, Dec. 15. The Spartans then welcome St. Augustine's on Tuesday, Dec. 18 before an in-state clash with William & Mary on Friday, Dec. 21.