NORFOLK, Virginia -- Senior guard Rae Corbo scored 29 points for the second game in a row, leading Norfolk State to its third straight win with a convincing 82-58 victory over North Carolina Central on Saturday evening at Echols Hall.
The win puts the Spartans at 5-11 overall, 4-1 in the MEAC heading into Monday's game with North Carolina A&T. The 4-1 MEAC start is the Spartans' best since 2001-02, when NSU won the MEAC title.
Corbo hit 11-of-20 from the floor, 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Freshman forward Kayla Robertsadded 18 points and five rebounds, sophomore guard Koryn Lawrence chipped in with 12 points and sophomore forward Nia Roberts had a game-high 13 rebounds.
NCCU held leads at 2-0 and 4-2, but it was all NSU after that. Corbo had five points in a 9-0 Spartan burst that gave NSU the 11-4 lead just three and a half minutes into the game. The Spartans slowly widened the margin over the course of the first half thanks to 53 percent shooting in the opening stanza. Freshman forward Io Chaney hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Spartans their biggest lead of the period, 38-22, heading into the locker room.
The lead reached 20 points for the first time when Kayla Roberts hit a pair of free throws to make it 49-29 with 15:33 left in the game. A 9-2 NCCU run brought the Eagles within 13, 65-52, with 6:19 left in the game. But NSU answered with the next seven points, which included a jumper by Lawrence and a steal and fast-break layup by Corbo, to push the margin back to 20.
NSU established season highs in points (82), field goals (31) and field goal percentage (47.7) in their most lopsided victory of the season. Each of NSU's wins in its current three-game winning streak has come by at least 13 points.
Corbo added three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Jazamine Gray handed out a game-high five assists and also had six rebounds for NSU, which outrebounded the Eagles 45-33. Ten Spartans scored in the ballgame.
Racquel Davis scored 17 points and Khyra Conerly added 14 for the Eagles.
The Spartans host N.C. A&T, the preseason MEAC favorite, at 6 p.m. Monday.
Box Score
Matt Michalec, Asst. AD/Communications
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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