Grice, Sparkman Combine To Lead Florida A&M To Win Over Delaware State
NORFOLK, Va. — Jasmine Grice poured in22 of her game-high 32 points in the second half and Kimberly Sparkman tallied all of her 20 after intermission to help Florida A&M pull away to an 86-58 win over Delaware State in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Norfolk Scope.
The Lady Hornets (8-21), the Number 13 seed, managed to stay close through most of the first and closed what had been a double digit deficit to 34-28 on a half-court heave by Raven Bankston at the buzzer. Florida A&M’s Taneka Rubin led all scorers with 12 and Grice added 10. Bankston paced Delaware State with 11.
With seeming momentum, the Lady Hornets were able reduce the margin to five at 37-32 at the 17:59 mark. But Grice, the MEAC Player of the Year and Sparkman, took over from that point, reeling off a 15-6 run that all but decided the outcome. Grice hit on four of five from the floor and converted 13 of 15 from the free throw line. Sparkman, her backcourt mate, who missed all of her shots in the first half, converted on seven of eight in the second stanza as Florida A&M shot a sizzling 63 percent (15 of 24) in the second half.
The Lady Rattlers defense played a big role in the dominance as they forced Delaware State into 14 second half turnovers—24 for the game—that they converted into 22 points.
Delaware State got an outstanding performance from Bankston, who scored 17 of her team-high 28 points in the second half. An MEAC All-Rookie first team selection, Bankston connected on 11 of 26 from the field. Deanna Harmon added 16 points in a losing cause.
Trio Leads Savannah State To Win Over Morgan State
NORFOLK, Va. —The trio of Ezinne Kalu, Bria Dorsey and Jasmine Norman proved to be too much as they combined for 61 points to lead Savannah State to an 82-71 win over Morgan State in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Norfolk Scope.
The Lady Tigers (18-13), the Number 5 seed, advance to the quarterfinal round against Florida A&M, the Number 4 seed on Thursday at 2:30 pm.
Savannah State jumped out to the early lead and was never challenged as it took a comfortable 50-34 lead to the locker room. Norman (13 points), Kalu (11) and Dorsey (10) did most of the damage, combining to shoot 14 of 24 from the field en route to a 57 percent (21 of 37) shooting exhibition.
The Lady Bears (5-25), the Number 12 seed, did get 12 points from Tracey Carrington and 11 from Danielle Forrest, but they could not offset the scoring of the trio or the 28-9 advantage in the paint by the Lady Tigers.
Savannah State was on cruise control through most of the second half, leading by 69-44 at the 11:26 mark. But the Lady Bears refused to fold and went on a 26-9 run over a 10-minute stretch to cut the deficit to 76-71 with 1:29 remaining, creating some anxiety for the Lady Tigers. The rally was fueled by Carrington (16 second half points), Forrest and Dinah Jones.
Following a timeout by Baker, Kalu scored four of her team’s six points during a 6-0 run to close out the game and send the Lady Tigers to the second round for the first time since they joined the MEAC in 2011-12.Carrington, an All-MEAC second team selection, led all scorers with 28, Forrest tallied 18 and Robinson and Jones added 11 and 10, respectively.
Kalu, a third team All-MEAC selection, led her team with 22, Dorsey with 20 and Norman 19.
UMES Uses Free Throw Shooting To Get By Norfolk State
NORFOLK, Va.—TeAmber Brooks scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half and Shawnee Sweeney added eight after intermission, but it was some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch that helped Maryland Eastern Shore come from behind to register a 70-66 win over Norfolk State in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at the Norfolk Scope.
The Lady Hawks (9-20), the Number 11 seed, will take on Coppin State in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 12 noon.
Norfolk State (12-16), the Number 6 seed, extended a 29-27 halftime lead to 45-32 at the 15:28 mark on the scoring of reserve guard Rae Corbo and Koryn Lawrence, who combined for 30 of Norfolk State’s 37 points.
But the Lady Hawks began to cut into the lead. Each time, they would get it to a workable margin, Norfolk State would come up with an answer. Then Alexis Udoji came up big. She scored on a drive to the basket to give Maryland Eastern Shore a 65-64 lead with 54 seconds remaining. Then Burke converted two free throws to up the lead to 67-64 with 38 seconds left. Rachel Gordon of Norfolk State scored to make it 67-66 with 23 ticks left on the clock.
From there, the Lady Hawks defense and some deft free throw shooting from Jessica Long and Udoji helped close out the game and send Maryland Eastern Shore into the next round.
Corbo led all scorers with 24 while Lawrence tallied 14. The Lady Spartans held a 39-22 bench advantage and 36-24 in the paint, but Maryland Eastern Shore offset that with a 12-3 advantage in second chance opportunities and 16 points off Norfolk State turnovers.
Sweeney led the Lady Hawks with 18, Burke with 17 and Ashleigh Claybrooks with 13 off the bench.