Spartans rout Bears, protect 2-game lead
Norfolk State’s women look as if they’re continuing unabated to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season title. The latest step, despite a bumpy start, was Monday night’s 79-49 cruise past Morgan State in Baltimore.
Diamond Johnson dominated for the Spartans (21-5, 10-1 MEAC), making 13 of 17 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 6 3-point shots. She had 32 points, five assists, four rebounds and four of NSU’s 15 steals as the Spartans retained a two-game lead on Howard.
Meanwhile, Kierra Wheeler provided her latest double-double, hitting 14 of 15 free throws on her way to 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman Amari Smith, a Menchville High graduate, led Morgan State (7-17, 2-7) with 11 points. She was 4 of 7 from the floor, but her teammates were 11 of 48.
The Bears bolted to a 9-0 lead in the first 3:40, but two Wheeler free throws 11 seconds later began a 21-0 NSU run. Morgan State never threatened after that.
Hokies rise to No. 5: Virginia Tech, enjoying a 10-game winning streak, climbed three places to No. 5 in the women’s Associated Press Top 25.
The Hokies have led the Atlantic Coast Conference for a while, but Monday they became the ACC’s highest-ranked team.
North Carolina State dropped six spots to 12th after losses to North Carolina and Duke. The Wolfpack, featuring former All-Tidewater Player of the Year Aziaha James, had won eight of nine before the two defeats.
Two losses separate second and seventh place in the ACC standings through Sunday; Syracuse at 13-4 is in second and UNC and Duke, both 10-6, are in seventh.
N.C. State hosts Syracuse on Thursday. The Orange are led by Dyaisha Fair, who moved into fifth on the NCAA career scoring list on Sunday, passing Brittney Griner.
South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Texas and Stanford.
Iowa, Southern California and UCLA followed the Hokies. LSU moved up four places to ninth and Connecticut climbed five spots to 10th. It’s the first time that UCLA, LSU and UConn — who were in the top five in the preseason poll — are all in the top 10 in a month.