‘Only the beginning’
NSU plans to build on MEAC title, ESPN game vs. No. 1 South Carolina
NORFOLK — The season might have come to a conclusion Friday afternoon, but the NCAA Tournament appearance might just be the beginning for Norfolk State’s women’s basketball team.
The Spartans drew the No. 1 overall seed in their first tournament game since 2002 and lost to South Carolina 72-40.
Despite the loss, this year’s Norfolk State squad still put up historic numbers.
Coach Larry Vickers and his team brought home the program’s first MEAC title since 2002, and it was the Spartans’ first season with more than 25 wins since 1995-1996.
“It’s definitely something huge and big, but I feel like this is just only the beginning,” sophomore guard Niya Fields said. “We’re just gonna keep moving forward, keep putting banners up. That’s just our goal. Definitely it was an honor to be the first one in 21 years to put a banner up, winning the MEAC and going to the tournament — but it’s nothing new.”
Fields and fellow sophomore co-star Kierra Wheeler said they were both honored to be part of a history-making team. Wheeler transferred into the program this year after one year at Daytona State. After choosing Norfolk State “last-minute,” she said she was happy to have an immediate impact on the program.
“I’m a part of history,” Wheeler said. “I think that our names will be remembered in this program for a long time. I think we have a big influence. … A lot of us are young, so I got two more years and a lot of my teammates have two more years to make the same impact and to keep going.”
More than 10,000 people were in attendance for Norfolk State’s matchup with South Carolina. Before then, the largest crowd the Spartans played in front of was 2,353 at home against Morgan State, and their largest road crowd was 2,124 at Old Dominion.
Even if a majority of that crowd was dressed in garnet and black to root for the Gamecocks, Norfolk State knew it was an opportunity to showcase its talents on a big stage.
“Obviously, a lot of people are watching it for South Carolina, so they’re gonna be watching us too,” Wheeler said before the game. “A lot of people don’t know who Norfolk State is and I’m just excited for me, my teammates to show them who we really are, and to get us that recognition that I think we deserve.”
In reality, more than just the official attendance number of 10,056 people got to see Vickers’ team battle it out with South Carolina on Friday. That attendance numbers don’t even begin to factor in the amount of people who watched from home on ESPN.
“I didn’t bring it up all week, but we played on ESPN (the main network). Like the first one — not 2, not 3, not Plus — we played on ESPN today, like nothing after it,” Vickers said. “The exposure that you can get from this tournament is amazing. We appreciate the whole week and you know, hopefully next time we can get a 15 (seed) or 14 (seed) matchup or whatever that case might be, because when you’re on that 1 (seed) line, it’s a little different.”
The ratings for the game aren’t available yet, ESPN said, but the women’s tournament has seen a big increase in recent years. Last year’s tournament averaged 634,000 viewers per game, a 16% increase from 2021.
That kind of exposure not only helps the program’s overall brand, but it also helps individual players like seniors Deja Francis and two-time MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Camille Downs when it comes to their possible future pro careers, Vickers said.
“We have good players,” Vickers said. “Sometimes teams will take the 12th player on a really good team over an all-conference MEAC player. So we need this for the exposure for Deja, for Camille and the others to just help them kind of get the money overseas that they deserve. It’s been an amazing week for us. I told them before, there’s not a better film to send overseas than this one.”
While the loss might sting for a while, Norfolk State’s historic run proves that the Spartans can be a mainstay in the MEAC and the NCAA Tournament in the future.
“It leaves a stamp,” Downs said. “So when we leave, the newcomers gotta come in with the same energy, with the same mindset, with the same mental, all the extra stuff. We’re just trying to continue to make history after this. I think we set the tone, we set the tone for real. Our upcoming freshmen and transfers will continue to keep doing the same thing.”