Philadelphia, Pa. – Norfolk State (17-2) lost 54-47 on the road to Drexel (27-5) in the first round of the WNIT Tournament on Thursday, ending the Spartans' season. Deja Francis led the team with 12 points, while Camille Downs added 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
Neither team scored for the game's first two and a half minutes, as the Spartans' stifled the Dragons' powerful offense. Downs got to the free throw line for the first two points of the evening, before Francis scored on a fastbreak to give NSU an early 4-0 lead.
 
The Dragons caught up to tie the game at eight, but Makoye Diawara gave the Spartans their edge back with a layup. Diawara continued her hot stretch on Thursday, posting eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field while pulling in seven rebounds.
 
Diawara's layup started a 6-0 NSU run, capped off with a layup by Mahoganie Williams. Drexel halted the momentum with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws, but Janay Turner hit a three to give the Spartans a 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Less than a minute into the second period, Diawara knocked down a three-pointer to put NSU up seven, its biggest lead of the night. Unfortunately for the Spartans, Diawara and Turner's three-pointers would be the last of the night for the team. NSU finished the evening 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from behind the arc.
 
The Spartan's seven-point cushion evaporated as All-CAA First Team selection Keishana Washington led a 9-0 run to put the Dragons back in front. The teams traded possession of the lead for the rest of the quarter, with Drexel taking a one-point edge into the break.
 
Williams scored in the paint to put NSU up by one early in the third quarter, but it was the last lead NSU would have for the night. Washington knocked down a 3-pointer to swing the momentum back in the Dragons' favor, and Hannah Nihill hit another for Drexel moments later.
 
The Dragons opened the lead to seven soon after, keeping that margin into the final quarter of play. Francis knocked down a jumper before Turner hit a free throw to trim the deficit to four. NSU clawed all the way back to within two a couple of minutes later, after back-to-back buckets by Williams.
 
Nihill hit a mid-range jumper for the Dragons, returning to a two-possession game. Danaijah Williams converted a second-chance opportunity for the Spartans with just under four minutes to play, but NSU would only score three more points the rest of the night.
 
The loss closed out a historic season for the Spartans, winning a share of the MEAC regular season title for the first time in program history and making the school's first-ever WNIT appearance.