NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State women's basketball looks for its best-ever start to MEAC play this weekend as the Spartans hit the road for games at Savannah State on Saturday at 4 p.m. and at South Carolina State on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
 
The Spartans (9-8, 4-0 MEAC) have the chance to start conference play with a record of 5-0 or better for the first time since joining the MEAC for the 1997-98 season.
 
The Opening Tip
Norfolk State jumped out to a 4-0 mark in MEAC play with a 57-50 win over 2018 regular season co-champions Bethune-Cookman at Joseph Echols Hall on Monday. The Spartans notched their first win over the Lady Wildcats in the tenure of head coach Larry Vickers and snapped a five-game losing streak against B-CU.
 
Monday's victory marks the third 4-0 start to the conference schedule in the past three seasons. The Spartans are vying to post three-consecutive winning conference seasons for the first time since joining the MEAC in 1997-98.
 
Seven NSU players recorded at least one field goal in the win, led by Kendrea Dawkins. The redshirt-junior continued her stellar run of form with her first-career double-double, finishing with 18 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. In her past six games, Dawkins is averaging 14.5 points and 5.2 rebounds.
 
NSU's dominance inside was vital on a night when neither team fared well from 3-point range. The Spartans outscored the Lady Wildcats 42-26 in the paint. From long range, the teams combined to go 4-of-27 (14.8 percent) with a pair of makes each.
 
Norfolk State shot 50 percent from the field in the first half en route to a 35-27 lead. The Spartans were balanced and unselfish on offense, assisting on 11 of their 15 makes. Six NSU players recorded a field goal in the half and four recorded two or more assists.
 
The Spartans held Bethune-Cookman to five points on 2-of-10 shooting in the third quarter, building a 15-point advantage in the process. The Lady Wildcats did not score their first basket of the period until the 5:40 mark, turning it over five times before finding the bottom of the net. After its first bucket, B-CU went scoreless for another three-plus minutes with four-straight misses from the field.
 
In her first start of the season, Goodhope filled the box score with four points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals in 32 minutes. She made life miserable for B-CU guards throughout the game, pressuring ball handlers for the full 94 feet of the court.
 
Norfolk State limited reigning MEAC Preseason Player of the Year Angel Golden to 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting (22.2 percent). She was one of three Lady Wildcats to finish the game in double figures, joining Brown and Amaya Scott (11).
 
The Spartans assisted on 17 of their 25 baskets in the game for their fifth-straight game with double-digit assists. Additionally, NSU committed only 14 turnovers, extending its streak of games with fewer than 20 giveaways to five games.
 
Sizing up Savannah State
The Lady Tigers enter Saturday with a 4-8 record and 2-1 mark in MEAC play. SSU is one win away from matching last season's total and has already exceeded the number of conference victories.
 
Last time out, Savannah State topped Florida A&M 54-50 in Tallahassee. Both sides shot poorly on the night, but strong offensive rebounding carried the day for SSU. For the game, the Lady Tigers grabbed 21 offensive boards, led by seven from Jacquece Alston.
 
SSU augments their poor shooting with a heavy dose of offensive rebounds. On the season, the Lady Tigers rank 320th in the nation in field goal percentage (35.1) but rank ninth in Division I with 17 offensive rebounds per game.
 
Defensively, the Lady Tigers look to pressure teams into mistakes and rank third in D-I with 23.75 turnovers forced per game. SSU is equally adept at generating steals and is second in the nation with 14.6 per game. Alston (3.58), Myasia Jones (3.0) and Heniaya Moton (2.33) all rank in the top-100 nationally in steals.
 
Jones is also SSU's go-to scorer, ranking fourth in the conference with 16.9 points per game. Alston is the team's chief distributor with 3.8 assists per game, the fifth-most in the conference, and Alexus Bryant ranks in the top-15 in the MEAC in both rebounding (6.0, 13th) and blocked shots (2.3, 2nd).
 
Sizing up South Carolina State
The Lady Bulldogs sit at 8-9 and 1-2 in conference play and entertain Howard on Saturday. S.C. State split their trip to Baltimore with a 62-51 loss to Morgan State last Saturday and a 75-59 win over Coppin State two days later.
 
Taylor Brown averaged a double-double in those two games with 20.0 points and 14.0 rebounds, earning her MEAC Player of the Week recognition. The junior forward logged 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals against MSU before a 20-point, 18-rebound, six-assist outing against CSU.
 
On the season, Brown nearly averages a double-double with 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds on 49.2-percent shooting from the floor. Although not a high-volume shooter, Brown is also hitting 45.5 percent of her 3-point attempts.
 
All-Time Series vs. SSU
Saturday represents the 16th all-time meeting between the two programs and will be the final regular-season conference game in the series as Savannah State will complete its transition to Division II's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at the end of the academic year.
 
NSU holds an 8-7 edge over the Lady Tigers and was 2-1 against SSU last season.
 
The Spartans scored a pair of regular-season victories last year, winning 78-58 on the road then 83-51 at home. However, SSU eliminated Norfolk State from the 2018 MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament with a 51-48 result in the opening round.
 
Norfolk State overcame a 15-point first-half deficit in its win in Savannah and outscored SSU 29-6 in the fourth quarter. The Spartans won the second half 49-21 by shooting 60 percent from the floor and holding the Lady Tigers to 19.4-percent shooting. Alexys Long spearheaded the comeback with a career-high 29 points and five 3-pointers.
 
The return game featured far less stress, thanks to a balanced attack. Nine Spartans netted five or more points, including four who scored 11-plus. In contrast, Kaylee Allen scored 32 points for the Lady Tigers, going 10-of-19 from the floor and 7-of-10 from long range. No other SSU player managed more than five points.
 
Beating a team thrice in one season can prove difficult as SSU showed with a 51-48 win over NSU on the first day of the MEAC Tournament. The Spartans managed just 27.6-percent shooting, including 15.8 percent from 3-point range, and made only 13 of their 22 free throws. Long tied the game at 48 with 2:17 left, but NSU missed its last three shots and turned the ball over once.
 
Vickers is 3-3 all-time against SSU. Cedric Baker is 7-6 versus the Spartans in his career.
 
All-Time Series vs. SCSU
NSU and S.C. State meet for the 41st time on Monday. Norfolk State owns a 22-18 advantage over the Lady Bulldogs and is on a four-game winning streak dating back to the 2016-17 season.
 
The Spartans took two games from SCSU last season, winning 71-67 on the road and 63-49 at home. NSU led by 19 early in the second quarter in the first game, but a 21-5 run from the Lady Bulldogs gave the home team a 56-55 lead with 4:48 left in the game. The Spartans answered with a 7-0 run to regain control of the game.
 
In the second game, NSU suffocated the S.C. State in the fourth quarter to secure the win. The Spartans outscored the Lady Bulldogs 23-11 in the final frame, holding SCSU to 13.6-percent shooting in the quarter. Norfolk State blocked 10 shots in that game and hit 20 of its 25 free throws.
 
Vickers owns a 4-1 mark against S.C. State. First-year head coach Audra Smith is 1-0 against the Spartans, having beaten them during her tenure at UAB.
 
4-0 Feelings
While the Spartans may start the regular season slowly, NSU has blitzed through the early portion of its MEAC schedule under Vickers. Norfolk State won its first four games to start MEAC play last season and was 5-2 against conference opponents in January. The previous season, the Spartans started off 4-0 and were 5-2 in the MEAC in the month of January as well.
 
Once again this season, NSU has won its first four conference games, becoming the fourth team with a 4-0 conference start since 1997-98. The only non-Vickers led team to win its first four MEAC games was the 2001-02 squad, which went 13-5 in the conference and won the MEAC Tournament. No team has ever won its first five MEAC games.
 
What's Next?
NSU closes out January with a home game against Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. The Spartans then take a one-week break before traveling to Howard in a battle of conference contenders.