DAYTON, Ohio - Down by two with
less than a minute remaining, the Delaware State University women's basketball
team was unable to complete a comeback as they lost for the first time this
season, 57-53, to Wright State at the Ervin J. Nutter Center.
In
the final eight minutes of the game, the Raiders were 8-for-10 from the charity
stripe and recorded just one field goal en route to victory. A 3-pointer from KC Elkins at the 1:57 mark
gave Wright State their largest lead in the final minutes at 55-48.
Over
the next minute, the Lady Hornets cut the lead to two with a three-point play
from sophomore Tasia Bristow
(Baltimore, Md.) and layup from redshirt sophomore Uchechi Ahaiwe (Riverdale, Md.).
Shaunda
Sandifer missed two free throws with 16-seconds remaining, but Elkins knocked down
two with three seconds on the clock to seal the victory for the Raiders.
Redshirt
freshman Tierra Hawkins (Clinton,
Md.) got DSU on the board almost immediately after tipoff with fast-break
jumper and then completed a three-point play off of a Sandifer foul to take a
3-0 lead. The Raiders responded with
eight unanswered points and eventually went up, 19-9 with 9:56 remaining.
With
6:19 left in the first half, a reverse layup from sophomore Deanna Harmon (Owings Mills, Md.) was
the first field goal from a Lady Hornet other than Hawkins.
A
trey from freshman Alexis Thornton
(El Paso, Texas) with 1:12 remaining cut the WSU lead to eight at 26-18 before
the Raiders finished the half up, 28-18.
Del
State came out of halftime fired up as they started the second half on a 14-2 run. Bristow led the way, scoring 10 of the 14
points. A 3-pointer from Bristow at the
16:20 mark gave the Lady Hornets a 32-30 lead.
The
Raiders took the lead for good with a jumper in the paint from Molly Fox at the
13:07 mark, 37-35.
Hawkins
recorded her third double double of the short season with 15 points and 10
rebounds. Bristow added 13 points for
DSU while Ahaiwe contributed 11. Harmon
also grabbed 10 boards and posted a team-high four assists.
Sandifer
and Fox led the way for Wright State, each collecting double doubles. Fox led all scorers with 16 points in
addition to 10 rebounds while Sandifer tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The
Raiders (2-0) were 21-for-27 from the free throw line while the Lady Hornets (2-1)
were just 7-of-10 at the charity stripe.
Delaware
State returns home for a 5:30 p.m. matchup against NJIT on Wednesday at
Memorial Hall.
---DSU WBB---
