Jori Nwachukwu had a double-double of 34 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs, as the North Carolina Central women's basketball team defeated Norfolk State 77-61 on Thursday night at Joseph Echols Hall. NCCU improved to 6-13 on the season, while NSU fell to 0-12 in its home opener.

The Spartans got on the board first with a 3-pointer by Whitney Long to take a 3-0 lead with 19:02 left in the first half. The Lady Eagles took a 9-7 lead on a three-point play by Chasidy Williams with 14:04 left in the period, and two after two ties, they took a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.

A layup by Nwachukwu with three seconds left ended the first-half scoring, putting NCCU up 35-22 at the break.

The closest the Spartans could get in the second half was nine, 39-30, on a layup by Tyisha Bridges with 16:40 left in the game.

The Lady Eagles shot 58.8 percent (30-of-51) from the floor for the game and were 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) from the free-throw line. They scored a whopping 54 points in the paint, grabbed 39 rebounds and had 25 turnovers.

NSU hit 23 of its 72 shot attempts (31.9 percent) and went 12-of-21 at the charity stripe. The Spartans had 40 rebounds, 21 turnovers and 12 steals. It was the third time this season that NSU outrebounded an opponent and the second time an opponent had more turnovers.

Williams had 14 points and six rebounds for NCCU and Blaire Houston had 10 points and five assists.

Danelle Tate led the Spartans with her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Spartans resume their MEAC slate with two home games. They take on Delaware State (6-9, 2-0 MEAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Maryland Eastern Shore at 6 p.m. on Monday.