NORFOLK, Va. – Adre'onia Coleman's layup with 0.3 seconds remaining broke a 53-53 tie and gave Morgan State the 55-53 victory over Norfolk State at Echols Hall on Saturday evening.
 
Coleman rebounded Tykyrah Williams' missed shot from the right baseline and immediately put the ball back up and in to send the Lady Bears to a 12-10 record, including 5-4 in MEAC play.
 
The last-second stunner spoiled a historic outing for senior guard/forward Kayla Roberts, who blocked two shots to set the program's all-time record in career rejections. The Miami, Florida native now has 138 blocks in her career, surpassing Beverly Davis' previous mark of 137 that had stood for over 36 years.
 
NSU (12-8, 5-3) shot a season-high 54.1 percent from the field and eclipsed 50 percent in a losing effort for the first time in six seasons. The Spartans previously did so in an 83-73 loss at Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 25, 2012.
 
The loss is the second-straight for Norfolk State with both coming by two points. Saturday's game played out nearly identically to the Spartans' 53-51 defeat by North Carolina A&T on Jan. 31.
 
As was the case against the Lady Aggies, the Spartans out-shot the Lady Bears but turned the ball over 23 times, which led to 17 points by MSU. Morgan State also grabbed 13 offensive boards and scored 13 second-chance points.
 
Alexys Long made back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game, and NSU led 6-2 with 8:56 to play. Long's second trey was the last made field goal of the quarter for the Spartans, as the Lady Bears closed out the period on a 14-3 run.
 
Norfolk State missed its last five shots of the quarter and gave the ball away nine times. At the same time, Morgan State shot 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from the field and 2-of-5 from deep.
 
Lexus Spears scored six early points for the Lady Bears en route to a game-high 18. Spears made half of her 12 shot attempts and six of her eight free throws while grabbing six boards.
 
The Spartans found their offensive footing in the second quarter but still entered the intermission down 29-20.  Morgan State built its largest lead of the game at 25-13 at the 4:36 mark on the strength of a 6-0 run that spanned 68 seconds. Braennan Farrar started the run with a made 3-pointer. Following a turnover by Roberts, Jihayah Chavis layed it in on the break.
 
After a made free throw by Spears, Khadedra Croker scored with 3:44 remaining to break the run and make the score 25-15. The two teams then traded treys before Armani Franklin netted the final two points of the quarter with 1:03 to play.
 
NSU scored the first 11 points of the second half as part of a 13-0 run that spanned 4:29 of game time.
 
Roberts and Raven Russell made consecutive 3-pointers to start the quarter, and the Spartans did not miss a shot until there were 4:49 to play in the period – going 6-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from deep before registering their first miss.
 
Defensively, Norfolk State limited the Lady Bears to eight points on 4-of-15 shooting but conceded four offensive rebounds.
 
Up one with less than two minutes remaining in the quarter, Long canned a jumper to send Norfolk State to the fourth quarter up 40-37.
 
Offenses dominated in the fourth quarter as both teams combined to go 13-of-22 from the field.
 
Morgan State scored the first six points of the period to take a 43-40 advantage with 8:12 to play. Longs' fourth 3-pointer of the game knotted the score less than two minutes later, and Roberts put NSU ahead 45-43 with 6:24 remaining.
 
Long netted a team-high 14 points for NSU on 5-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 from deep. As a team, the Spartans shot 53.8 percent from deep with four different players hitting from long-range.
 
Spears broke a 47-all tie with a layup with 3:22 to play, but Franklin had an answer. The two teams traded buckets until Roberts knocked down a jumper to make the score 53-53 with 28 seconds left.
 
The next MSU possession provided the late-game heroics, as Coleman won the game with 0.3 seconds to go. Norfolk State immediately called time out to advance the ball to the front court, but Yazmen Hannah's lob to Roberts at the rim was picked off to end the game.
 
The Spartans blocked eight shots on Saturday for their 10th game this season with eight or more rejections. Croker led all players with three blocked shots, while Roberts and Kendrea Dawkins rejected a pair each.
 
Norfolk State assisted on 12 of its 20 field goals in the game. Croker shared the game-high with a career-best four assists. Roberts recorded two assists and stuffed the box score with 13 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a steal.
 
The Spartans shift southward for a road matchup with Bethune-Cookman on Monday at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Wildcats are the last undefeated team in MEAC play at 8-0 and snapped NSU's nine-game winning streak on Jan. 27.