NSU Defeats UMBC 56-43 to Claim 1st Road Win of the Season

HARRISONBURG, Virginia – Senior Rachel Gordon and junior Quineshia Leonard each scored 11 points to give NSU a 56-43 victory over UMBC in the JMU Invitational on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center. The win against UMBC is the Spartans' first win away from Echols Hall this season.

NSU moved to 5-6 on the season while UMBC fell to 1-10 overall.
Gordon also tallied 11 rebounds in her effort to claim her fifth double-double of the season. She now has 864 rebounds in her career. Gordon needs 11 more rebounds to tie Beverly Davis for seventh all-time career rebounding at NSU.

UMBC started the first half with a layup from Liz McNaughton at the 19:47 mark that sparked an 8-0 run. Tayler McCarley closed the run on a jumper in the paint with an assist from Emily Russo with 16:48 to go before halftime.

From there it was all NSU as freshman Logan Powell scored the first bucket of the game for the Spartans with 16:34 on the clock. Powell's basket started a 24-3 run for NSU that included field-goals from freshmen Kieera Basey and Koryn Lawrence. Leonard and junior Ebony Brown also contributed in scoring during the run. Gordon ended the run on a layup with 7:08 remaining in the half to give NSU a 24-11 lead over UMBC. Gordon's basket was the last field-goal of the half for the Spartans.

UMBC closed out the half with a 6-1 run as McNaughton drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:35 left to send the Retrievers into halftime trailing NSU, 25-17. This the second time this season that NSU has held an opponent to 20 points or less in a half. The last time the Spartans held an opponent under 20 points in a half was against Virginia University-Lynchburg on Dec. 20. VUL only scored 16 points in the second half.

NSU came out hot in the second half as Corbo nailed a 3-pointer with 19:14 on the clock to ignite a 17-2 run. Corbo ended the run on a jumper at the 15:19 mark to give NSU a 42-21 lead over UMBC. This was the Spartans' largest lead of the game.

UMBC finally came to life in the second half after Janelle Saling knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:58 on the clock. Bridget O'Donnell closed out UMBC's 15-4 run with a jumper, but the Retrievers still trailed NSU, 46-36, with 8:30 remaining in the game.

Ebony Brown answered on the other end with another 3-pointer to keep NSU ahead by 13 with 7:36 to go in the half. The Spartans' last field-goal of the half was from Leonard with 3:45 left that gave NSU a 55-37 lead over UMBC.

The Spartans ended the game shooting 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the field and 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the free throw line. NSU shot only 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from beyond the arc on the afternoon. Aside from Leonard and Gordon, Ebony Brown contributed nine points, Corbo posted eight points to go along with her three assists and Lawrence finished the game with six points.
The Spartans outrebounded the Retrievers 38-31 on the afternoon. NSU outscored UMBC in the paint, 28-14, and also outscored UMBC on second chance points, 18-3.

UMBC shot 34.0 percent (16-of-47) and was 60.0 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line. The Retrievers also shot only 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range. Saling and McCarley led UMBC in scoring with 12 points each. O'Donnell contributed eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, while McNaughton totaled seven points and two assists.

The Spartans will face James Madison tomorrow in the JMU Invitational. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.

Box Score

By Chaundrea Lee, Media Relations Assistant
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS