Despite a forgettable start Thursday night, the Norfolk State women achieved a result they’ll want to remember: a 57-51 victory at Maryland Eastern Shore.
The victory tied the Spartans (12-12, 7-2) for second place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with the Hawks (14-12, 7-2).
That didn’t look likely when UMES, which beat NSU at Echols Hall early in coach Jermaine Woods’ first MEAC slate with the Spartans, got off to a 14-2 lead in the rematch. But the Spartans responded, tying the score at 18 before a layup at the buzzer gave the Hawks a 20-18 halftime lead.
Junior guard Anjanae “AJ” Richardson led the Spartans with 19 points, adding six steals, four rebounds and two assists. LeAire Nicks recorded a career-high 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Jasha Clinton added 13 points.
Trailing 39-38 to start the fourth quarter, NSU outscored UMES 20-13 the rest of the way and got its offense untracked. The Spartans went ahead 48-42 with 3:26 remaining. The Hawks cut their deficit to two with 57 seconds left, but NSU got stops as Clinton and Da’Brya Clark sank four free throws to complete the victory.
Both NSU and UMES trail first-place Howard by one game.
“We’re gonna defend, but we hadn’t made timely shots. Today we did,” Woods said in a radio interview.
No. 5 Vanderbilt 86, No. 4 Texas 70: NCAA scoring leader Mikayla Blakes had 34 points, Aubrey Galvan added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Vanderbilt won at home.
Blakes raised her scoring average to 26.2 points. She reached 30 or more for the fourth straight game and ninth time this season. The Commodores (24-2, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) won their third straight over a Top 25 team and fourth overall.
Madison Booker led Texas (23-3, 9-3) with 20 points and eight rebounds.
No. 7 Michigan 80, Northwestern 58: Olivia Olson had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Michigan (21-4, 12-2 Big Ten) shook off a slow start in Evanston, Illinois, while bouncing back from a 69-66 home loss to No. 2 UCLA on Sunday.
Syla Swords scored 16 points for the Wolverines, and Kendall Dudley had 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Northwestern (8-16, 2-11) dropped its sixth consecutive game, though Caroline Lau had 16 points and six assists.
No. 9 Louisville 86, Wake Forest 67: Laura Ziegler scored 13 points, Tajianna Roberts had 12 and Louisville held Wake Forest to just nine points in each of the first two quarters on the way to a rout. The Cardinals (23-4, 13-1 ACC) have won 16 of their last 17 games.
Grace Oliver scored 20 points for the Demon Deacons (13-13, 3-11).
No. 10 Oklahoma 81, Florida 74: Zya Vann scored 18 points and Peyton Verhulst had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Sooners.
Aaliyah Chavez added 16 points and seven assists and made all 10 of her free throws for Oklahoma (18-6, 6-5 SEC).
Liv McGill had 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Florida (15-12, 3-9), which held the Sooners scoreless for four minutes in the second quarter and led 37-26 at halftime. Me’Arah O’Neal, Shaquille’s daughter, scored 14 points.