GREENSBORO, N.C. – Norfolk State cut a 15-point halftime deficit to two twice in the second half, but host North Carolina A&T pulled away late for a 60-47 win over the Spartans on Saturday afternoon at Corbett Sports Center.

A scoreless stretch of more than seven minutes ended up being the difference in the final quarter for the Spartans (1-4, 0-1 MEAC), who were playing their first MEAC game of the year and first contest of any kind since Dec. 20.

The Spartans trailed by just two, 12-10, after a basket by guard E'Lexus Davis at the end of the first quarter. But the Aggies used an 11-2 run midway through the second quarter to open up a double-digit lead. Deja Winters hit two 3-pointers and Jasmen Walton capped the spurt with a traditional three-point play.

The Aggies outscored NSU 26-13 in the second quarter after shooting 55 percent from the floor. Winters hit three triples in the period as the Aggies took a 38-23 lead into the locker room.

After coming up empty from behind the 3-point arc in the first half, the Spartans heated up in the second half. Freshman guard Niya Fields gave NSU a spark with back-to-back 3-pointers and Jalynn Holmes followed with one of her own to slice the deficit to 41-34 midway through the third quarter.

Holmes hit another trey later in the quarter to cap a 7-0 Spartan run that cut A&T's lead to 43-41. NSU, which scored 18 of the quarter's final 22 points, trailed by just four (45-41) entering the final period.

Mangela Ngandjui scored after an offensive rebound on NSU's first possession of the fourth quarter to again bring the Spartans within two, 45-43. But the Aggies held NSU scoreless for a span of 7:12, using a 13-0 run to pull away. The Spartans missed six straight field goals during that stretch before Shine Strickland-Gills broke the dry spell with a layup with 2:25 remaining.

NSU made just 3-of-13 from the floor in the final quarter.

"I thought we did a good job in the second half, but after using all that energy to fight back, we didn't have the energy to close the game out," said head coach Larry Vickers, whose team played with seven players on Saturday. "We looked like a team that hadn't played in a long time. We've got to do the simple stuff and pay attention to detail to win games. But we'll get better tomorrow."

Holmes paced NSU with 12 points. Ngandjui and Strickland-Gills, a Central Michigan transfer playing her first game with the Spartans, both scored eight points. Ngandjui led the Spartans with nine rebounds and Armani Franklin added seven.

Chanin Scott had game highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies (5-1, 3-0), who held NSU to 32 percent shooting. Winters added 12 points thanks to four 3-pointers.

The teams face each other again Sunday at 2 p.m.