Norfolk State women seek to become first repeat MEAC champion since 2014-1025

NORFOLK — Coach Larry Vickers and the Norfolk State women’s basketball team accomplished a monumental feat last season.

The Spartans won their first MEAC Tournament since 2002 and made their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in over 20 years.

At MEAC women’s basketball media day last week, Norfolk State was chosen to repeat as conference champion. Winning again this season would make the Spartans the first back-to-back champion since Hampton, now a CAA member, won five in a row from 2010-14.

The Spartans are confident they will repeat this year and are playing like they have a target on their back.

“As much as I liked that other people thought we were the underdogs and that we proved ourselves (last year), I like having a target on their back even more,” junior guard Niya Fields said. “Now you understand our value and people want to take our crown, but that’s not possible. Not this year.”

Vickers said being chosen by the coaches to repeat as a champion is the ultimate sign of respect for the program.

“We lost two first-teamers and they said, ‘Hey, you’re still No. 1,’ which is kind of crazy,” Vickers said. “I picked Howard, then I picked Coppin (State), then I might have picked Morgan (State), then I picked us. And it’s not a knock on the other teams below because I know they’re going to be tough too, but some of them had a little more transition. So I picked us fourth, but they picked me first, so they want to add pressure.

The first players Norfolk State will be without this season are Camille Downs and Deja Francis. Both were no longer eligible and Vickers said Francis was currently playing professionally overseas.

Downs was a two-time first-team All-MEAC selection and a two-time MEAC Defensive Player of the Year. She also led the Spartans in scoring last year with 11.7 points per game. Francis was a two-time first-team All-MEAC player and was No. 3 on the Spartans in scoring with 10.8 points per game.

Entering this season, Vickers said the biggest transition the team has faced is the sophomore class taking over the roles left by players like Downs and Francis.

“The coaches credit this group as winning the MEAC tournament for us,” Vickers said. “It’s not necessarily Camille or Deja, it’s that sophomore class that really won our tournament.” It’s simply a matter of preparing them for their new roles. Camille was like our mother hen, our leader… so now we lost our mother hen and Deja was our passion on the pitch.

Sophomores who excelled in the MEAC tournament are now juniors and have earned four preseason All-MEAC nominations.

Kierra Wheeler, the Most Outstanding Player of last year’s MEAC Tournament, was named to the All-MEAC First Team, Niya Fields was named to the Second Team and Makoye Diawara and Na’naija Williams were selected to the third team.

Norfolk State also added two high-powered transfers this year: former NC State guard Diamond Johnson and former McNeese State forward Paris Mullins.

Johnson’s transfer was a hot topic in the college basketball world, and Vickers joked that it even made the front page of ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“She’s a professional scorer, that’s what she does,” Vickers said of the former Phoebus High star who averaged 12.3 points for the Wolfpack last season. “But she is also an extraordinary teammate and a very good leader. I think from a personality standpoint, my team didn’t know what they were going to get from a McDonald’s (All-American) type player, but she kind of jumped right into our culture and she was amazing.

The Spartans will be road tested by the time MEAC play begins in January and Vickers joked that it was difficult to schedule home games this season after winning 26 games. Norfolk State will play 12 of its 14 non-conference games on the road this year, including games against major programs in Miami, Minnesota, Wake Forest and Auburn.

“It raises our level of competition,” Fields said. “When it comes time to win the MEAC again, I say now, and as we move forward in the tournament, we don’t see those Power Fives as soon as we enter and we don’t know what to expect. And then, be sure the road is also a wonderful attribute of the season, because when it comes time for the tournament, it won’t be at home either, so we’ll still have to be on the road, so we’ll have all the preparation.

NSU Women at a Glance

Last year: 26-7, 11-3 MEAC (first place)

Coach: Larry Vickers (117-80 in seven seasons)

Opening of the season: Monday at William & Mary, 5 p.m.

MEAC predicted order of finish, as selected by coaches: 1. Norfolk State, 2. Howard, 3. Morgan State, 4. Eastern Shore Maryland, 5. Coppin State, 6. North Carolina Central, 7. Delaware State, 8. South Carolina State

Calendar

November: 6: at William & Mary, 5 p.m.; 8 a.m.: at Drexel, 6 p.m.; 12:00 p.m.: at Radford, 2:00 p.m.; 16: vs. Appalachian State, 11 a.m.; 19: at Hampton, 2 p.m.; 24: vs. *East Tennessee State, TBD; 26: *Miami (FL), TBD; 29: in Minnesota, 8 p.m.

December: 2: at Chicago State, 2 p.m.; 10: at Wake Forest, 16: Auburn, 2 p.m.; 6 p.m.: at High Point University, 7 p.m.; 28: vs. UNC Wilmington, 4 p.m.; 31: at Longwood, 2 p.m.

January: 6: in the state of South Carolina, 2 p.m.; 8 a.m.: at North Carolina Central, 5:30 p.m.; 20: at Howard, 2 p.m.; 22: against Mary Washington, 5:30 p.m.; 27: vs. Coppin State, 2 p.m.; 29: vs. Morgan State, 5:30 p.m.

February: 3: vs. Delaware State, 2 p.m.; 5 p.m.: Eastern Shore of Maryland, 5:30 p.m.; 17: vs. South Carolina State, 2 p.m.; 19: vs. North Carolina Central, 5:30 p.m.; 24: at Coppin State, 2 p.m.; 26: at Morgan State, 5:30 p.m.

March: 2: in the State of Delaware, 2 p.m.; 4: vs. Maryland Eastern Shore, 5:30 p.m.; 7 p.m.: against Howard, 5:30 p.m.; 13-16: MEAC Tournament

*Miami Thanksgiving Classic

Michael Sauls, [email protected], (757) 803-5774