Shontavious Wylie had a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, both game-highs, as the South Carolina State defeated Norfolk State 82-61 on Saturday afternoon at the S-H-M Memorial Center.
Wylie was 9-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-11 from the free-throw line and added three assists and three steals in 40 minutes to help the Lady Bulldogs improve to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in the MEAC.
With the loss, NSU drops to 0-15 for the season and 0-6 in conference play. The Spartans have now tied the 1997-98 team (Division I transitional year) for the worst start in school history.
SCSU wasted no time in opening up a 15-0 lead on the Spartans. NSU did not get on the board until the 14:04 mark when Danelle Tate hit a layup. The Spartans did not reach double figures until Tiffany McNair scored a bucket with 9:46 left in the first half to make the score 28-11.
The Lady Bulldogs kept the points coming and took a 47-22 lead into halftime. Wylie had 15 points and nine boards at the break.
NSU did manage to outscore SCSU 40-34 in the second half, mainly behind the hot shooting of freshman guard Tyisha Bridges, but the Spartans could not overcome the large first-half deficit.
For SCSU, Marie Reid had 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks, while Sophilia Hipps had 13 points and six steals.
Bridges led NSU with a career-high 16 points, 14 in the second half, on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Whitney Long had 13 points and career-highs in steals (seven) and rebounds (five). McNair also grabbed a career-best 10 boards.
The Spartans travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on the winless Lady Rams of Winton-Salem State at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. WSSU is 0-16 on the season after a 73-40 loss to North Carolina A&T on Saturday.