Second-seeded Norfolk State built a 17-point lead with just over two minutes left and beat back a North Carolina Central rally to hang on for a 58-52 triumph over the seventh-seeded Lady Eagles Wednesday in quarterfinal action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament at the Scope Arena.
The win earned head coach Larry Vickers’ team a spot in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup between third-seeded Morgan State and South Carolina State, the sixth seed.
Norfolk State improved to 16-10.
The Spartans, who tied Howard and Morgan State for the MEAC regular-season championship, went ahead 58-41 on Armani Franklin’s layup with 2:04 on the clock, but that would be the last points of the game for the Lady Spartans as the underdog Lady Eagles scored the game’s final 11 points to close the gap to six at the end.
Mahoganie Williams led a balanced Norfolk State scoring attack with 12 points while adding five rebounds, five blocks and five steals. Chrystal White added 11 points, including three baskets from long range during a 15-0 Lady Spartan run to start the second quarter which put them ahead 30-12 with just under five minutes left in the half.
Deja Francis contributed 10 points, with five assists in the victory.
Camille Downs, Makoye Diawara and Danaijah all had seven rebounds to lead Norfolk State, which enjoyed a 44-34 edge on the boards.
N.C. Central, which ended its campaign at 5-20, was led by Paris McBride, who came off the bench for 12 points and three steals. Diamond Thomas added 11 points and six rebounds, while Ashlyn Lockard had a team-high eight boards to go along with four points.
Norfolk State led 15-12 after one period but scored the first 15 points of the second stanza to build a 30-12 advantage with 4:55 left in the half. The Spartans took a 32-16 lead to the locker room. N.C. Central outscored Norfolk State 20-15 in the third to close the gap to 47-36 after three periods and made the run in the final two minutes of the game but was unable to complete the comeback.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the contest, as N.C. Central connected on just 18-55 attempts for a 32.7 shooting percentage, while Norfolk State was only slightly better, hitting 21-59 tries for a 35.6 percent accuracy.
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