Brittany Noel scored a game-high 16 points and added four steals against Norfolk State.
Norfolk State 60, Morgan State 64
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 29, 2011)-Brittany Noel scored a game-high 16 points, while Kyla Rollins added 13 points to help Morgan State to a 64-60 victory over visiting Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game at Hill Field House. The win was the Lady Bears' seventh straight over Norfolk State.
Noel, who shot 4-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, also recorded a game-high four steals in the victory. Rollins, who was playing in just her second game as a Lady Bear, notched a game-high nine rebounds in her home debut, falling shy of a double-double for the second consecutive game.
Norfolk State (8-9, 1-6 MEAC) was led by Batavia Owens, who came off the bench and scored a game-high 13 points and tallied a team-high three steals for the Spartans. Sarah Daily added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Marian Brooks chipped in with seven rebounds.
Morgan State (11-8, 5-2 MEAC) held a 28-20 advantage with 3:22 to play in the opening half by going on an 11-2 run over the course of six minutes, before the Spartans used a 6-2 run to pull within 30-26 at the intermission.
The Spartans came out in the second half strong, using a 20-12 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 46-42 with 12:28 remaining.
Moneshia Davis hit a three-pointer from the left corner to put the host Lady Bears up 56-53 with 5:26 to play. But on the ensuing Spartans' possession, Owens knocked down a free throw to complete a three-point play and even the score at 56-56.
A layup by Erin Hawkins triggered five straight points by Morgan State, but the Spartans answered back with four straight points to get within 62-60 with 13.7 remaining. Noel would add two free throws for the game's final score.
Morgan State shot 21-of-45 (46 percent) for the game, including 6-of-17 from three-point range (35 percent), while the Spartans connected on 25-of-59 (42 percent) and 6-of-11 from three-point range (54 percent). Both teams combined for 43 turnovers, 23 by Morgan State.
The Lady Bears, who have won four of their last five contests, will conclude their brief two-game homestand with a crucial MEAC game against North Carolina A&T on Monday evening at Hill Field House at 5:30 p.m. The game, which will be for second-place in the league standings, will also close out the first half of the MEAC slate for Morgan State. N.C. A&T was a 75-74 winner at Coppin State earlier on Saturday.
