FARMVILLE, Va. -- Norfolk State used an 18-0 run in the third quarter to erase a four-point lead for the Longwood women's basketball team as Spartans went on for a 76-59 victory at the Joan Perry Brock Center on Sunday.
Norfolk State, which won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference a season ago and entered play ranked No. 19 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, got scoring contributions from five different players in the decisive run. Kierra Wheeler led the way with six of her game-high 30 points in the 5:13 stretch while the Spartans were 7-of-14 from the floor as team, turning it into a 50-36 game late in the third quarter.
Redshirt senior guard Adriana Shipp-Davis secured Longwood's first double-double of the season in the loss with a season-high 20 points and career-high-tying 15 rebounds. The Chesapeake, Va., native, who also added three assists, had the Lancers' last double-double with 16 points and 11 boards in a 59-50 win over UNC Asheville on Feb. 25, 2023.
Longwood (2-10) eliminated a 21-13 Norfolk State advantage after the first quarter, limiting NSU to just seven points in the second to take 29-28 edge into halftime. Junior guard Bailey Williams scored LU's final four points of the half for the lead.
Wheeler, who also collected 16 rebounds for a double-double of her own, hit a jumper on the first possession of the second half to give her team back the lead before Anne-Hamilton LeRoy responded with a bucket and Shipp-Davis a 3-pointer to open a 36-32 bulge for the Lancers.
Longwood went 0-for-3 from the field with six turnovers as Norfolk State (10-4) took over from there. Diamond Jackson also added five of her 21 points the run. The Spartans led, 53-39 heading to the fourth quarter. NSU turned 29 Longwood turnovers into 28 points on the day.
Janay Turner, a Norfolk State transfer who played the 2021-22 season with the Spartans and was facing her former team for the first time, rattled off five quick points, to make it a 60-48 deficit, forcing an NSU timeout. That, though, was as close as Longwood got rest of the way as Turner scored 16 points for the game.
LeRoy's second-half jumper pulled her into a tie for 10th in career scoring at Longwood with Chelsea Coward with 1,334 points. She finished the day with four points and two rebounds.
Longwood shot 21-for-51 (41.1 percent for the game, holding Norfolk State to 28-for-79 (35.4) from the field.
The Lancers open Big South play Wednesday at 7 p.m., hosting Winthrop at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
