FAYETTEVILLE - In the moments after Fayetteville State's 72-56 win over Virginia Union on Tuesday, Eva Patterson-Heath looked at the game's final stats and smiled.

"We only had 16 turnovers," she said. "I'd like for it to be better, but that's so much better than 30."

In their last two games the Broncos have committed only 37 turnovers. That's a major turnaround from its first five games when FSU (9-4, 5-2 CIAA) averaged nearly 36 per game.

"I didn't even realize I had scored that much," said Mercedes Humphries who had a career-high 18 points. "We've worked really hard to improve our focus and reduce our turnovers."

Humphries, who started, also played a season-high 26 minutes.

"There is a big difference between starting and coming off the bench," she said. "When you're starting you have to be prepared to play. It's just a different type of energy you have to have."

In addition to Humphries, LaQuasha Jordan matched her career-high of 18 points set in FSU's 64-54 win over Claflin on Saturday.

"Their outside shooting was a big help," said Patterson-Heath. "When they started hitting, it gave us confidence. We missed some open looks in the first half, but made them in the second half."

FSU senior Tiffany Haywood had her third-consecutive double-double with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in 30 minutes of action.

Haywood is averaging 15.3 rebounds per game in FSU's last three contests.

"She's just a work horse down low," said Patterson-Heath said. "She knew she had four turnovers and that's something that she's aware of, so that's correctable."

The Broncos held VUU (3-11, 0-11 CIAA) to 33.8 percent shooting, forced 21 turnovers and scored 30 points off those turnovers.

Tonaye Smith topped the Panthers with 17 points while Kara Scott added 10 points and 14 rebounds.

FSU is 7-0 inside Capel Arena this season and has won 11 of its last 12 home games.

As Patterson-Heath and her team enter the final month of regular-season play, FSU's first-year head coach thinks her team is headed in the right direction.

"They are starting to grasp the concepts that we are teaching," she said. "They understand how we want them to play defense and what we need to do to win."

Danielle Russell scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists for the Broncos.