51
Morgan State MSUW 18-8
53
Winner Norfolk State NSUW 17-10
Morgan State MSUW
18-8
51
Final
53
Norfolk State NSUW
17-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Morgan State MSUW 17 9 15 10 51
Norfolk State NSUW 16 13 12 12 53
msuvsnsumeac
Nick Sutton

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | MEACSports.com

Downs’ Buzzer Beater Lifts Spartans to MEAC Title Game

Box Score | Championship Central

NORFOLK, Va., March 11, 2022 – Norfolk State's Camille Downs put back a Niya Fields miss as time expired to give the Spartans a dramatic 53-51 win over Morgan State Friday in semifinal action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament at the Scope Arena.
 
The Lady Bears' Adia Brisker had deadlocked the contest at 51-all on a driving layup with 30.4 left on the clock. Following a timeout by Norfolk State, the Spartans got the ball to Fields, who dribbled most of the time off the clock before launching a 12-footer that was off the mark.
 
In a scramble, Downs came up with the ball and, while falling back, fired a shot baseline jump that was true, leading to a big eruption and celebration by the Spartan players and a partisan Norfolk State crowd.
 
"My teammates just kept telling me to shoot, just shoot, giving me positive vibes," a beaming Downs said. "So yes, I did think it was going to go in."
 
The Spartans, who tied Howard and Morgan State for the MEAC regular-season title, will meet top seed Howard in Saturday's championship game (approx. 4p.m., live on ESPN+). The Bison defeated Maryland Eastern Shore 68-54 in Friday's other semifinal contest.
 
Norfolk State improved to 17-10 on the season.
 
Deja Fields had 19 points and four assists to lead the Spartans, while Downs and Makoye Diawara added 14 points each in the win. Diawara also had a game-high 10 rebounds for Norfolk State, which lost the rebounding battle 39-32 to the Lady Bears.
 
"We lost [the second regular-season meeting against Morgan State] on an offensive rebound," Spartans head coach Larry Vickers said, "so to end [Friday's semifinal] on an offensive rebound is kind of fitting."
 
Morgan State (18-8) was led by Charlene Shepherd with 13 points and eight boards. Ja'Niah Henson and Ashia McCalla both added nine points in the loss, while Shepherd and Dahnye Redd had eight rebounds each for the Lady Bears.
 
Morgan State scored the game's first 11 points but Spartans got the next 10 to pull to within one, 11-10, on a basket by Downs with 2:49 left in the first quarter. And the battle was on between the two teams, which split their regular season matches, with each winning at home.
 
The contest featured nine ties and three lead changes before the Spartans earned their first trip to the finals since 2019.
 
The first period ended with Morgan State ahead 17-16, but a 13-9 Norfolk State second-quarter sent the Lady Spartans to the locker room with a 29-26 advantage. The closely contested game was even at 41-41 after three periods.
 
There were two lead changes and five ties in the final period before Downs' buzzer beater.


 
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