The top-seeded Norfolk State women’s basketball and No. 2 seed Howard opened up the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament with wins of different measures.
The Spartans (25-5) led wire-to-wire in a 75-43 victory over South Carolina State. Kierra Wheeler and senior guard Diamond Johnson each had 19 points. Guard Niya Fields contributed eight points, four assists and three steals for NSU, who won in wire-to-wire fashion.
South Carolina State (2-28) was led by senior forward Cassandra Colon’s nine points. Senior forward Jayah Hicks added seven points and grad students Jordan Releford and Morgan Beachum contributed six points each.
In the second opening round game, Howard (14-15) was locked in a back-and-forth battle with the Bears until taking a double digit lead late in the fourth quarter.
Morgan State closed to within five points, but a blocked shot by sophomore forward Nile Miller and free throws from Sa’lah Hemmingway and Iyanna Warren (team-high 15 points) put the game out of reach.
Warren’s final two free throws were career points 1,000 and 1,001 for the fifth-year senior. The win was also the 200th in the career of Bison head coach Ty Grace.
Both teams advance to Friday’s semifinal round – Norfolk State will play the winner of Thursday’s Coppin State/Maryland-Eastern Shore battle while Howard faces the winner of No. 3 North Carolina Central vs. No. 6 Delaware State.
