NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State women's basketball plays its final game of the month on the road against Morgan State on Saturday at 2 p.m. With only four regular season games remaining, the Spartans (13-12, 8-4) can solidify their hold on the fourth and final bye in the upcoming MEAC Tournament.
 
The Opening Tip
Norfolk State entered the fourth quarter of its game against North Carolina A&T down by 19 before a furious comeback bid in its 49-44 loss on Monday night. The Spartans outscored the Aggies 19-5 in the fourth to put the final result in question right up to the final buzzer.
 
NSU shot 53.3 percent in the fourth and held N.C. A&T to just two field goals. The Spartans opened the frame on a 12-0 run across the first five minutes of play to slash the deficit to seven at 44-37.
 
Raven Russell scored four of NSU's 12 points during the run and netted 10 in the period. The senior shook off a slow first three quarters to post a team-best 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Russell produced Norfolk State's last two points of the game on a jumper with 44 seconds remaining to make the score 48-44. From there, N.C. A&T split a pair of free throws and forced two misses from NSU to keep their perfect start to conference play intact.
 
A stellar first half put the Aggies ahead 35-16. N.C. A&T shot 52.4 percent (11-of-21) in the first half and made four of its seven 3-pointers (57.1 percent). Defensively, N.C. A&T overwhelmed the Spartans, holding them to 26.1 percent from the floor with 15 turnovers.
 
Norfolk State shot 18.2 percent from the field and gave the ball away nine times while falling behind 17-6 in the first quarter. While the Spartans struggled on offense, the Aggies found their rhythm early – shooting 46.2 percent from the floor with a pair of treys.
 
Khadedra Croker kept the Spartans in the game, scoring all six of NSU's points in the frame. For the game, Croker contributed 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting along with a team-high six rebounds and two blocks.
 
The game flipped on its head in the second half, where NSU shot 48 percent from the field with only seven turnovers. At the same time, the Aggies' offense broke down and scored only 14 points on 6-of-26 shooting and 12 turnovers.
 
For the game, the Spartans outshot the Aggies by a slim margin, 37.5 to 36.2 percent, but N.C. A&T turned 13 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.
 
Both sides turned the ball over a combined 49 times, but only N.C. A&T was able to capitalize off those mistakes. The Aggies scored 16 points off NSU's 22 turnovers, while the Spartans scored only eight off N.C. A&T's 27.
 
Sizing up MSU
The Lady Bears enter Saturday's game with 12 days of rest, having last played on Feb. 11. In its last game, Morgan State managed only 35 points to Savannah State's 53 to drop to 8-17 overall and 6-5 in the MEAC.
 
Only four Lady Bears scored in the loss, led by Jihayah Chavis' 13. Adre'onia Coleman chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds as well.
 
 Coleman was uncharacteristically quiet in the loss as she ranks fourth in the conference in scoring at 16.4 points per game. In addition, the senior guard/forward is sixth in the conference in rebounding (8.1), eighth in field goal percentage (41.1) and 12th in steals (1.6).
 
On the season, the Lady Bears own the MEAC's second-lowest scoring offense at just 53.7 points per game but have upped that mark to 59.9 in conference games. As a team, MSU shoots 35.4 percent and allows opponents to shoot 40.2 percent.
 
At just 33.3 rebounds per game, Morgan State ranks last in the conference in rebounding and are also last in rebounding margin (minus-8.2), defensive rebounding percentage (59.9) and offensive rebounding percentage (30.1).
 
All-Time Series vs. MSU
The series between NSU and MSU dates back to the 1981-82 season and has been contested 37 times with the Spartans holding a 21-16 edge.
 
An 11-game winning streak between 2000 and 2007 gave NSU a 13-3 lead after the first 16 games. However, MSU countered with an eight-game winning streak of its own and was 10-3 over the Spartans in the next 13 meetings.
 
The Lady Bears are winners of three of the last four games with NSU, including a 55-53 result in Joseph Echols Hall in the lone meeting last season. 
 
Norfolk State shot 54.1 percent in the game, including going 7-of-13 from deep, and outshot MSU by 18 percentage points, but 23 turnovers and 13 conceded offensive rebounds doomed the Spartans.
 
The last of those 13 offensive rebounds proved to be decisive as it led to Adre'onia Coleman's game-winning layup with 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock.
 
Alexys Long scored a team-high 14 points and was 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Kayla Roberts netted 13 with eight rebounds and became NSU's all-time leading shot blocker with the second of her two rejections.
 
Head coach Larry Vickers is 1-2 all-time against Morgan State. MSU's Edward Davis Jr. is 1-1 versus the Spartans.
 
NSU vs. the MEAC
Norfolk State is in the midst of its 22nd season of MEAC competition. The Spartans joined the conference for the 1997-98 season after spending their first 24 seasons in Division II as a member of the CIAA.
 
In its 21-plus seasons of MEAC play, NSU is 143-219 (.395) in conference tilts. The Spartans posted consecutive winning seasons in the MEAC for the first time last season, going 11-5 after a 9-7 mark in 2016-17. Norfolk State has not turned in three-straight winning conference records since its run of seven-straight from 1991 to 1997.
 
The Spartans are 187-209 (.472) all-time against current members of the MEAC. NSU holds winning marks against Maryland Eastern Shore (26-17), South Carolina State (23-18), Morgan State (21-16), North Carolina Central (21-7) and Savannah State (9-7).
 
Vickers owns a 31-23 (.574) record in MEAC play and is 28-16 (.636) since his first full season in 2016-17. Vickers has a winning record against South Carolina State (5-1), Delaware State (4-1), Savannah State (4-3), North Carolina Central (3-0), Maryland Eastern Shore (3-1), Coppin State (3-2) and Florida A&M (3-2).
 
Defensive Titans
An unyielding defense has become a trademark for the Spartans under Vickers, who have turned in a top-40 scoring defense and a top-three field goal percentage defense in each of the last two seasons. In 2016-17, Norfolk State ranked 39th in D-I after allowing only 57.8 points per game and owned the nation's third-stingiest field goal percentage defense (33.4).
 
This season, NSU ranks 17th in scoring defense (55.8), 12nd in field goal percentage defense (35.6) and 10th in opponent 3-point percentage (26.1).
 
At the conference level, the Spartans rank first in scoring defense since the 2016-17 season, allowing 56.7 points per game in that span. During the same time period, Norfolk State tops all MEAC teams in field goal percentage defense (33.8), blocks per game (5.9) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (27.5).
 
Record Watching
The 2018-19 edition of the Spartans figure to leave their marks on the record books.
 
As a team, NSU is on pace to set single-season Division I marks in scoring defense (55.8), field goal percentage (39.5), defensive 3-point field goal percentage (26.1) and assists per game (14.4).
 
In addition, the Spartans rank third in program history in defensive field goal percentage (35.6), fourth in 3-point field goals (126), fifth in total blocks (107), blocks per game (4.3) and in 3-point field goal percentage (29.6), and sixth in free throw percentage (66.7).
 
Several Spartans are on track to enter into the D-I single-season record book as well. Long is tied for seventh in 3-point percentage (33.3) and 11th in made treys (41). Dana Echols' mark of 5.0 assists per game ranks third, and she is sixth in single-season assists (126). Croker is fourth in blocks per game (2.2) and tied for fifth in total blocks (49), and La'Deja James is fourth in steals per game (2.4), ninth in free throw percentage (79.6) and 15th in scoring average (12.6). Lastly, Russell ranks 14th in field goal percentage (46.1) and De'Janaire Deas owns the 12th-best shooting percentage (46.3).
 
At the career level, Croker continues to climb the total blocks ledger and is second with 142. She also ranks first in blocks per game with 2.9.
 
Long's 3-point shooting percentage of 37.3 is currently second all-time in NSU history, and her 123 made treys are the fourth most. The senior sharpshooter is also seventh in all-time 3-point attempts with 330.
 
Russell currently ranks 20th in all-time scoring average at 11.1 points per game. She also ranks 12th in field goal percentage (45.8) and is 16th in career 3-point field goal shooting (28.9).
 
Lastly, Kendrea Dawkins' 0.7 blocks per game ranks 18th all-time.
 
What's Next?
The Spartans contest two of their final three MEAC games at Echols Hall, starting with their game against Coppin State on March 2 at 4 p.m. NSU then travels to Delaware State on March 4 before hosting Howard for the season finale on March 7 at 5:30 p.m.