DURHAM, N.C. – Anissa Rivera finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and host North Carolina Central edged out a short-handed Norfolk State squad 65-61 in the regular-season finale for both teams on Thursday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Arena.

The Spartans (4-8, 3-5 MEAC), who began the game with seven players in uniform but finished with just three after four fouled out, still led late and had a shot to pull off the mid-week sweep of the Eagles (4-11, 2-6).

Rivera's layup roughly a minute and a half into the fourth quarter gave her team a 53-47 edge, but the Spartans gradually chipped away. Rivera fouled out after a technical foul with 3:39 left to play, and Jalynn Holmes hit 1-of-2 from the line to bring NSU within 57-56. On the ensuing possession, Shine Strickland-Gills scored inside to give the Spartans their first lead of the second half, 58-57.

NSU actually held the Eagles without a field goal for the final 7:51 of the game, but NCCU did its damage at the free-throw line. After Strickland-Gills' shot, NSU had three players pick up their fifth foul within one minute of each other to leave the Spartans with just four players. The Eagles retook the lead on two Kiyana Brown free throws with 1:17 left.

The Spartans were far from done, however. Camryn Platt-Morris tied the game at 60-all with a jumper with 44 seconds remaining. The Eagles went back ahead after two Necole Hope foul shots 21 seconds later.

The Spartans had three 3-pointers to tie or take the lead in the closing 18 seconds, but couldn't connect. Trailing by three after a Brown free throw with 14 seconds left, the Spartans missed a pair of triples but NCCU opted to foul Holmes after the second. Holmes made the first and missed the second with four seconds remaining, but the Eagles rebounded the miss and Paris McBride made two free throws with less than a second left to seal the game. That foul resulted in the fourth foulout of the game for NSU.

Mangela Ngandjui scored 10 points in the first quarter to stake NSU to the early lead. But NCCU used an 18-5 surge in the second quarter to open up a 10-point advantage, and the Eagles held a 39-32 lead at the break.

The Spartans clawed back in the third, closing the quarter with 3-pointers by Niya Fields and E'Lexus Davis that helped bring NSU within four heading into the final stanza.

Holmes led NSU with 14 points, Franklin chipped in 13 for her fourth straight game in double figures, and Ngandjui added 12. Platt-Morris scored nine off the bench for the second day in a row.

One day after forcing NCCU into 34 turnovers, the Spartans forced 25 more on Thursday. Ngandjui notched a career-high seven steals, and both Strickland-Gills and Holmes had four apiece. NSU, however, committed 26 turnovers and shot just 35 percent from the floor and 56 from the charity stripe.

Hope added 15 points and Brown 13 for NCCU.

"It's only fitting after the way our regular season has gone that we end the season with three players on the court," NSU head coach Larry Vickers said. "Turnovers and free throws were the determining factors in the game today, however, and our focus will be on fixing that moving forward."

Despite the setback Thursday, NSU has still clinched the No. 2 seed from the MEAC Southern Division in next week's conference tournament. The Spartans play a noon quarterfinal game on Thursday, March 11 against North No. 3 seed Coppin State at the Norfolk Scope Arena.