ORANGEBURG, South Carolina – Norfolk State women's basketball survived an upset scare at the hands of South Carolina State on Saturday and ultimately escaped with the 71-67 victory at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
Norfolk State (10-5, 3-0 MEAC) reached the 10-win plateau in only 15 games, which matches both the 2001-02 and 1999-00 teams for the quickest pace to double-digit wins in the program's Division-I era.
The Spartans won their first three MEAC games for the second-straight season, as last year's squad opened conference play 4-0.
NSU led by 10 after the first quarter and was up 19 early in the second quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs (6-11, 1-4 MEAC) refused to be buried and briefly led midway through the fourth quarter.
Down 15, 50-35, with 3:58 left in the third quarter, S.C. State went on an extended 21-5 run to take its lone lead of the game at 56-55 with 4:48 remaining in the fourth.
Bryesha Blair and Kyesha Lewis keyed the Lady Bulldogs run, scoring a combined 15 points in that span. Blair netted the first eight points in the fourth quarter for S.C. State, and Lewis laid it in to give her team the lead in the fourth quarter.
NSU broke the run with five-straight points, but Blair promptly cut the deficit to a single point on a 3-pointer at the 3:31 mark. Following two free throws by Raven Russell, S.C. State once again drew to within one, 62-61, but the Spartans responded with a 7-0 run to regain control of the game.
Russell's steady hand at the charity stripe was a major factor in the run as the junior guard made four-straight free throws at the 1:45 mark to make the score 69-61. For the game, Russell was a perfect 12-of-12 from the line as she becomes the first Spartan to not miss a free throw on eight or more attempts since Jordan Strode went 12-of-12 last season at Longwood.
The Millbrook, Alabama native joins three other players for the sixth-most free throws made by a Spartan in a single game and finished the game with 16 points and a season-high eight rebounds.
SCSU never relented and trimmed the lead to 69-67 in the final minute, but it proved too little and too late as Blair turned the ball over with less than five seconds remaining to seal the game.
Blair shared the game high in points (20) with Kayla Roberts. Roberts matched a career high with four 3-pointers while shooting 50 percent from the field (7-14) with seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.
NSU built a 22-11 lead after one period with a tenacious defensive effort. The Lady Bulldogs made just one field goal on 11 attempts (9.1 percent) and turned the ball over six times.
As was the case for the entire game, S.C. State stayed afloat at the charity stripe and made nine of 13 attempts in the first period. For the game, the Lady Bulldogs attempted 10 more free throws than the Spartans and made seven more. Norfolk State shot a season-best 81.8 percent (18-22) from the line, while SCSU shot 78.1 percent.
Norfolk State scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second quarter for its largest lead of the game, 32-13, with 7:17 left in the half. Gabrielle Swinson scored four of her 11 points during the run, and Alexys Long and Armani Franklin both made a trey.
Following a long ball by the Lady Bulldogs, Alexis Sparkman hit from long range to push the lead back to 19 with 4:45 on the clock. From there, S.C. State closed out the half on a 10-2 run and trailed 37-26 at the break.
After missing their three attempts in the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs shot 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the second and finished the game 8-of-16 from deep. Norfolk State shot 9-of-20 (45 percent) from beyond the arc.
NSU won the rebounding battle 36-30 behind a career-high 10 boards by De'Janaire Deas. Esther Udonsi led SCSU with six rebounds.
The two teams combined for 45 turnovers with the Spartans giving the ball away 24 times. NSU scored 32 points off turnovers while the Lady Bulldogs netted 29 off Spartan giveaways.
Norfolk State recorded more blocks than its opponent for the 13th time in 15 games, 6-3. Deas led the Spartans with two rejections.
NSU completes its southward swing on Monday against Savannah State at 6 p.m.
BOX SCORE
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
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