Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State women's basketball team looks to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Coppin State on Monday as they head to Orangeburg, S.C. on Saturday to take on South Carolina State. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Hall.
Media Coverage: The game against South Carolina State can be heard on WNSB Hot 91.1 with Ross Gordon on the call. There will be no live stats for this game.
All-Time Series: NSU leads the series with S.C. State, 17-16. The last time NSU defeated the Lady Bulldogs was on Jan. 24, 2011.
Last Time Out: Coppin State posted a 71-52 win over Norfolk State to end the Spartans' three game win streak on Monday night at Joseph Echols Hall. Senior Rachel Gordon and junior Rae Corbo led NSU (8-9, 4-2) with 13 points each. Gordon also grabbed 10 boards to post her fourth straight double-double. She now has nine double-doubles this season.
Ashle Craig led the Lady Eagles with 27 points on 9-of 13 shooting. She also shot 80 percent (4-of-5) from the free throw line.
The Spartans shot only 34.6 percent (18-of-52) from the field for the game and was 13-of-19 from the free throw line. Freshman Logan Powell ended the night with 10 points and seven rebounds, while juniors Ebony Brown and Quineshia Leonard finished with seven points and six points, respectively. Freshman Dominique Harper rounded out the scoring effort for NSU with three points.
About South Carolina State: S.C. State (5-10, 3-2) is coming off of a 71-53 loss to Bethune-Cookman on Monday at S-H-M Memorial Hall in Orangeburg, S.C. Kourtney Williams led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring, finishing the game with 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting from the field. Williams leads S.C. State in scoring on the season, averaging 18.3 points per game.
Two other S.C. State players also scored in double figures against B-CU, including Cabriel Duren and Dayshaun Richbow, who each turned in 10 points. Richbow also tallied seven rebounds, five assists and five steals on the night. Cabriel is the second leading scorer for the Lady Bulldogs, averaging 10.0 points per game this season.
For the game, S.C. State shot only 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field and was 7-of-11 from the free throw line. S.C. State was also held to only 18.2 percent (2-of-11) shooting from 3-point range. B-CU outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs, 43-31.
Last Year Against S.C. State: On Dec. 3, 2012, Mykayla Jones scored a pair of 3-pointers in overtime to lift S.C. State over Norfolk State, 62-59, at S-H-M Memorial Center. Ebony Brown was the Spartans' lone scorer in overtime nailing a 3-pointer with 32 seconds on the clock.
Rachel Gordon led the Spartans with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Teammate Kashay Barnes also scored in double figures, tallying 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Gordon capped an 8-3 the run by the Spartans to lead S.C. State, 8-6 with 15:10 left in the first half. From there the Lady Bulldogs went on a 16-8 run sparked by a 3-pointer from Jones to give S.C. State a 24-14 lead with 5:07 left before halftime.
Tamara Majette's layup with 2:28 on the clock allowed the Spartans to get within eight as the Lady Bulldogs continued to lead, 29-21. Tiara Knotts nailed a jumper with 11 seconds remaining to send S.C. State into halftime with a 40-22 lead over NSU.
The Spartans came out hot in the second half with a 16-2 run capped off by a layup by Barnes with 12:50 left in regulation to bring NSU within six as the Lady Bulldogs continued to lead, 44-38. Kourtney Williams hit a jumper with 9:03 remaining to keep the Lady Bulldogs ahead of NSU, 52-41.
But NSU would not go away without a fight as Ebony Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 7:12 left in regulation to spark a 13-2 run. Aivah Parham's jumper with 2:27 on the clock sealed the deal for NSU as both teams would go into overtime tied 56-56.
S.C. State had three players in double figures. Jones had 17 points, three rebounds and four assists. Knotts added 14 points and six rebounds while Fannie Goodwin picked up a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
NSU shot 33.3 (23-69) percent from the floor. Parham had nine points and six rebounds for the Spartans. Brown also had nine points and four steals.
Scoring Leaders: Rae Corbo leads NSU in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game followed by Rachel Gordon, who is averaging 12.1 points per game. Ebony Brown rounds out the top-three scoring leaders for NSU, averaging 9.9 points per game.
Double-Doubling: Rachel Gordon posted her fourth-straight double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds in NSU's loss to Coppin State on Monday.
Gordon Comes Up Big at the Free Throw Line: Rachel Gordon has shot 39-of-43 (90.6 percent) from the free throw line over the last four games. Of Gordon's 83 attempts from the free throw line in 17 games this season, nearly half have come in the last four games.
Moving Up the Charts: Rachel Gordon is in fifth place all-time in career rebounding at NSU with 934 rebounds. She needs 67 more boards to pass Sharon Wallace for first place, which means she needs to average 6.7 boards over the next 10 regular season games.
Rae Corbo ranks eighth all-time in career free throws made at NSU with 241. Corbo needs to make 54 more to break into the top five.
Corbo is also in 11th place all-time in 3-point field goals made at NSU with 56. She needs only three more to move into the top 10. Teammate Ebony Brown is in 12th place in 3-point field goals made with 54. She needs five more to move into the top 10.
Gordon Named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week: For the fourth time this season, Rachel Gordon was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced on Jan. 20.
Gordon posted double-doubles in both games last week as she led the Spartans with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the 57-48 win over Delaware State on Jan. 13. She also tallied 14 points and 16 rebounds in the 61-52 win over Morgan State on Jan. 18. Gordon now has eight double-doubles on the season. Free throw shooting played a major part in Gordon's scoring effort as she shot 88.5 percent (23-of-26) from the charity stripe.
Spartan players won four of the first five MEAC Defensive Player of the Week honors to start the season. Quineshia Leonard earned the award in the first week of the year on Nov. 11, while Gordon took home the honor on Nov. 18 and in back-to-back weeks on Dec. 2 and 9.
NCAA, MEAC Leaderboard: Rachel Gordon currently ranks No. 7 in the nation in rebounds per game and Rae Corbo is No. 69 in free throw percentage.
Gordon ranked 16th in career rebounding among active players through Jan. 19. She also ranks 11th in career rebounding average at 9.6.
As a team, NSU currently ranks in the top 5 in 15 different categories in the MEAC, while NSU players rank in the top 5 in five different categories, including Rachel Gordon, who leads the league in rebounds, averaging 12.9 rebounds per game.
Follow NSU, Coach Clark on Twitter: In addition to its official athletic web site at www.nsuspartans.com, you can also follow NSU athletics on the social networking site Twitter. Log onto www.twitter.com/NSUSpartans and become a follower of the Spartans today to get updates on all things NSU, including updates during games.
Coach Clark is also a part of the Twitter world. Check out www.twitter.com/dclarknsuwbb to hear more from the coach throughout the season
