PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The Delaware State University women's basketball team got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center and was unable to overcome a 34-8 halftime deficit to lose, 60-32, to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the conference opener.

The Lady Hornets (2-5, 0-1 MEAC) scored a season-low eight points in the first half, their lowest point total in a half since Dec. 4, 2010 when they scored just three at Syracuse en route to an 87-17 loss.

Sophomore Deanna Harmon (Owings Mills, Md.) scored Del State's first points of the game at 17:07.  UMES held the Lady Hornets scoreless over the next six minutes, giving up a jumper to Harmon at 11:47, to go up, 13-4.  The Lady Hawks then went on a 15-0 run before a pair of free throws from freshman Keyanna Tate (Beltsville, Md.) at the 2:26 mark for a 28-6 lead.  Harmon wrapped up the first half scoring for the Lady Hornets with two free throws with less than a minute remaining.

A layup from UMES' Jessica Long gave the Lady Hawks a 34-8 halftime lead.

Del State shot a season-low .100 from the field (2-for-20) compared to .440 from UMES (2-3, 1-0 MEAC) in the first half.

Redshirt freshman Tierra Hawkins (Clinton, Md.) scored first in the second half, scoring three straight layups for the Lady Hornets and cut the lead to 22 points at 36-14 with 16:47 left in the game.

Another layup from Hawkins at 12:50 cut the lead to 40-20.  The Lady Hornets never caught momentum and that would be the closest DSU would come for the rest of the game. 

The 32 points scored is the team's lowest since Nov. 19, 2010 when DSU scored 21 points in a 66-31 loss at West Virginia.  Del State was also held without a 3-point field goal. 

The Lady Hornets collected 27 rebounds, their lowest since Dec. 29, 2010 when they tallied the same amount at Towson.

Despite being held scoreless in the first half, Hawkins ended the game with a team-high 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting in addition to a team-high six rebounds.  Harmon finished with eight points and a team-high four steals.

UMES' Chelsea Sanders posted a game-high 13 points while Adobi Agbasi recorded a double double of 11 rebounds and 10 points.  Shanyce Stewart also tallied 11 rebounds in the win for the Lady Hawks.

The Lady Hornets continue MEAC play on Monday as they travel to Howard University.  Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C.

---DSU WBB---