In their home finale, the Norfolk State Spartans women’s basketball team went out on a high note, avenging their only conference loss of the year.
The Spartans end the regular season on a 12-game win streak following a 59-53 win over the Howard Bison.
Norfolk State heads into the MEAC tournament as the regular season champions with a 24-5 overall record and a 13-1 record in the conference.
Meanwhile, Howard had a five-game win streak snapped, ending its regular season with a 13-15 overall record and a 10-4 conference record.
Kierra Wheeler led all scorers with 14 points, three blocks, and two steals. Anjanae Richardson and Danaijah Williams came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points respectively.
For the first time this season, Diamond Johnson failed to score in double figures, scoring just nine points. However, she impacted other areas by recording four assists and three steals.
Vanessa Blake led the way for Howard, posting 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting along with nine rebounds, including five offensive boards.
Iyanna Warren had a rough shooting night, scoring eight points on just 2-of-11, but added six assists and five rebounds.
Revenge hits different from home 😼#GoldStandard🔰 pic.twitter.com/h5ioGSXkkU
— Norfolk State Women’s Basketball (@NorfolkStateWBB) March 7, 2024
After trailing 14-13 at the end of the first quarter, Norfolk State went on their first big run to begin the second, outscoring Howard 17-2 to take a 14-point lead with 1:57 remaining in the half. They would end the first half with a 30-19 lead.
The Bison went on a run of their own, coinciding with Johnson being subbed out after committing her third foul at 7:43 in the quarter.
They went on a 10-0 run, including two three-pointers by Kaiya Creek to trim their deficit to one point.
The Spartans kept their poise going on an 11-4 run to build their lead back up and would not surrender for the remainder of the game.
These teams will now await the start of the MEAC tournament on March 13, when they will be the top two seeds.
Norfolk State is looking to become the first team to win consecutive conference tournament championships since Hampton won the MEAC tourney five straight times from 2010-2014.
