Vickers Postgame Interview | Long Postgame Interview

NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State women's basketball shot 50 percent from the floor and stifled Howard's potent offense in its 74-59 win over the Bison (17-12, 10-6 MEAC) inside Joseph Echols Hall on Senior Night. Thursday's victory vaults the Spartans (15-14, 10-6) into a two-way tie with HU for fourth place in the MEAC standings, but NSU will receive the fourth seed and an accompanying first-round bye in next week's conference tournament by virtue of the Bison's 0-2 record against Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
Each of NSU's three seniors left their imprint in the game. Khadedra Croker provided her usual inside presence – grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking two shots – but also scored nine points and provided two assists. Alexys Long scored 12 points, knocked down one of the Spartans' three 3-pointers and chipped in three assists and two steals as well. Lastly, Raven Russell made half of her field goal attempts en route to a nine-point, six-rebound, two-assist night.
 
The Spartans held the MEAC's highest-scoring offense to 14 points below its season average on a season-low 24.3-percent shooting performance.
 
Howard stayed in the game with a heavy dose of offensive rebounds, grabbing 22 of its own misses and scoring 17 second-chance points. The Spartans still managed to outrebound the Bison, 45-44, and scored 15 second-chance points on only seven offensive boards.
 
The Bison hoisted up 39 3-pointers and hit 11, shooting 28.2 percent from deep. HU made eight of its 17 3-point attempts in the first half before cooling off considerably in the second. Jayla Thornton drained five treys for HU as part of her game-high 20-point performance. Sarah Edmond also had three 3-pointers for the Bison, and Ayonna Williams shot 2-of-3 from deep.
 
While Howard focused on the 3-point arc for its scoring production, Norfolk State had eyes only for the painted area. The Spartans took only eight long-range shot attempts, making three, and scored nearly three-quarters of their points inside the paint. For the game, NSU outscored the Bison 54-12 inside the paint – matching its season-high in that category.
 
Norfolk State withstood a barrage of 3-pointers in the first quarter and led 22-21 after the first period. Howard made six of their 10 attempts from deep in the quarter to keep pace with NSU. The Spartans could not match the Bison in terms of 3-point volume in the quarter but rode 52.6-percent shooting and a 6-1 edge in the turnover margin.
 
HU led 9-7 after the first two minutes and 56 seconds on the strength of a 9-0 run. All nine of those points came from the 3-point line, with Thornton sinking two early treys.
 
Thornton scored the last 16 points for Howard in the quarter and had five treys in the period. Her final 3-pointer gave Howard its last lead of the game at 19-18 with under a minute left in the quarter. NSU went ahead for good on the next possession when De'Janaire Deas laid it in.
 
Deas logged the fourth double-digit scoring outing of her career and had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
 
Howard's hot start did not carry over to the second quarter, and the Spartans jumped ahead to a 41-33 halftime lead. NSU limited the Bison to 23.1-percent shooting in the period, including a 2-of-7 mark from long range. The Spartans converted those stops into easy baskets, scoring six of their 19 points on the break.
 
HU tied the game at 28-28 with 6:16 left in the half, but the Spartans answered with a 9-0 run. Russell and La'Deja James combined for all nine points of the run with James sinking a 3-pointer.
 
James scored seven of her team-high 19 points in the second. For the game, the Virginia Beach native was 7-of-11 from the field, made both of her treys, grabbed six rebounds and dished out two assists.
 
The scoring woes continued into the third quarter for the Bision, who shot only 19 percent from the floor in the period, including a 1-of-12 mark from deep.
 
A 15-0 run spanning 4:39 gave NSU a 58-36 lead with 3:30 remaining in the third. The Spartans held the Bison scoreless for 5:05 and converted back-to-back three-point plays during the run. Russell powered through contact, drew the foul and sank a free throw to put the Spartans ahead 50-36. Long did the same on the next possession, and NSU led 53-36 with 5:47 left in the period.
 
Four unanswered from Thornton cut the Spartans' lead to 58-40, and the Bison outscored Norfolk State 8-2 over the final three minutes of the quarter to make the score 60-44 heading into the final frame.
 
Howard's surge continued into the fourth quarter, where the Bison opened on a 7-0 run. Over a span of 6:45 going back to the third quarter, HU outscored the Spartans 15-2 to turn a blowout into a single-digit game.
 
Gia Thorpe punctuated the run with a layup to make the score 60-51 with 6:25 left in the game, but the ensuing 6-0 run from the Spartans put any notion of a Howard comeback to rest.
 
The Spartans recorded 20 assists on their 32 made field goals, marking the seventh game this season with 20 or more assists. NSU is 7-0 this season and 13-0 under head coach Larry Vickers when hitting the 20-assist threshold. Eight Spartans had two or more assists on Thursday with Dana Echols' four leading the team.
 
Thursday's win gave Norfolk State 10-plus conference victories in consecutive seasons for the first time in its Division I history. Since joining the MEAC for the 1997-98 season, the Spartans have only five seasons with double-digit conference wins.
 
Norfolk State's MEAC Tournament run begins next Thursday at 2 p.m., when the Spartans play the winner of Monday's first round tournament game between Howard and Florida A&M.