GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Norfolk State women's basketball team dropped their first conference game of the season, falling to the North Carolina A&T Aggies 53-39 at the Corbett Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

From the start, the Aggies ran a full-court press defense with a lots of traps that gave the Spartans fits on offense all game. N.C. A&T started the game on a 7-2 run following a layup by Mikaya Wilson at the 6:18 mark of the first quarter. Mikaela Jones brought the Spartans back by scoring the six points in the first, including a layup to give the Spartans an 8-7 lead with 3:58 left in the quarter. It would be the Spartans only lead of the game, with the Aggies heading into the second quarter up 13-12.

The Spartans managed to tie the game twice in the second period, but were unable to take the lead away from the Aggies. Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the second, with the Aggies shooting 4-of-12 (33.3%) and the Spartans shooting 3-of-11 (27.3%). The Spartans started to really get into foul trouble in the second, specifically with Chanette Hicks having three fouls before the Aggies headed into halftime up 25-21.

Hicks was on the floor for 52 seconds to start the second half, before picking up her fourth foul and immediately headed to the bench. N.C. A&T was able to break the game open a bit in the third, opening up their first 10-point lead with 2:12 left in the quarter. The Spartans looked to push the pace in the second half, but the Aggies defense held NSU to just 2-of-16 (12.5%) from the floor in the third period. The Spartans scored just seven third quarter points as the Aggies headed into the final period up 39-28.

The Spartans brought the Aggies lead down to four points with 5:27 left in the game, using a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter. N.C. A&T answered with their own 9-2 run to end the game, reaching their largest lead of 14 points with their last bucket of the game to make the final score 53-39.

It was the first time this season that the Spartans had more turnovers than the opposing team. It was also the first time an opposing team scored more points in the paint than the Spartans. Both teams shot fairly evenly from the floor, with NSU going 16-of-54 (29.6%) and the Aggies shooting 18-of-59 (30.5%). The Aggies were aggressive getting to the foul line, going 16-of-22 from the free throw line. The Spartans were in foul trouble early because of the Aggies aggressiveness in attacking the basket. Offensive rebounding was a big factor for the N.C. A&T, with the Aggies scoring 11 second chance points in the game.

Blaire Thomas led the Spartans with 10 points, while adding seven rebounds, three steals and one block. Hicks and Jones scored eight points each. Hicks added three assists and two steals while Jones had four rebounds and a steal. James added five points along with four rebounds and a steal. De'Janaire Deas scored two points, but stuffed the stat sheet defensively with six rebounds, three blocks, and a steal.

The Spartans will continue their road trip in North Carolina, traveling to Durham on Monday to take on N.C. Central at 4 p.m.