Spartans clinch title
NSU compensates for inaccurate shooting with stifling defense
NORFOLK — Norfolk State clinched the MEAC regular-season women’s basketball championship outright Monday night. The 52-40 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore was just the latest of 11 straight wins for the Spartans (23-5, 12-1), who are the conference regular-season champs for the third year in a row.
“Going into this year being sole champs was our goal,” head coach Larry Vickers said. “We had opportunity to be co-champs three years ago, and it was amazing because that was our first regular-season championship ever. But it’s great back-to-back years to be sole champs.”
Vickers’ squad overcame an ugly start to drive home the win over the Hawks. Norfolk State shot an abysmal 13.3% in the first quarter and trailed by six at the end of the period. The Hawks’ shooting wasn’t much better in the first quarter, but a 33.3% clip from the floor was enough for an early lead.
Norfolk State and UMES swapped shooting luck in the second quarter. The Spartans shot 37.5% in the second period, compared to 18.2% from the Hawks. With 2:47 left to go in the first half, Diamond Johnson sank a pair of free throws to give Norfolk State a lead that it kept for the remainder of the game.
The Spartans’ shooting was just as inconsistent in the second half. After shooting 58.3% from the field in the third quarter, NSU shot just 25% in the fourth quarter. Vickers’ squad shot 31.9% for the game, the lowest mark for Norfolk State in a win this year.
Norfolk State was able to hold UMES to 24.5%, the secondworst an opponent has shot against the Spartans this year.
“Even though the game wasn’t the style we wanted it to be today, we had two terrific defensive quarters and ended up with the W,” Vickers said.
Johnson finished with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Her scoring was welcome on a night when she was the lone Spartan to finish with more than 10 points and her co star Kierra Wheeler was 1 for 13 from the field.
“I feel like if I don’t see my teammates really scoring, obviously I’m trying to encourage them like it’s gonna go in,” Johnson said. “But I know my job as a scorer is to score the ball. And if my team is not doing good, I’m willing to take on a role and doing extra stuff. … It wasn’t a great shooting night, but we all did different things in different areas.”