DOVER, Del. - Sophomore Tasia Bristow (Baltimore, Md.) and redshirt freshman Tierra Hawkins (Clinton, Md.) each scored 21 points for the Delaware State University women's basketball team Saturday evening but the Lady Hornets were outscored, 60-22, in the paint en route to an 84-66 loss to Norfolk State at Memorial Hall.
Hawkins shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line for the Lady Hornets while Bristow was 9-for-16 from the floor and 3-for-7 from three-point land. Bristow, who was 31st in the nation with a .853 free throw percentage, went 0-for-3 from the charity stripe to drop her season average to .817.
The double figure points marked the fourth time this season that Hawkins has scored 20-plus points and the third time for Bristow.
Del State also saw double figure scoring from sophomore Deanna Harmon (Owings Mills, Md.), who posted 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor.
The Lady Hornets jumped out to a 7-2 advantage to start the game, but that was the only lead DSU would hold as the Spartans responded on an 11-2 run to go up, 13-9, with 13:09 left in the first half.
Led by Batavia Owens, Norfolk State slowly built their lead, going up by as much as 24 points at 39-15 with 3:43 on the clock.  The Lady Hornets retorted with a 7-0 run, including four points from Bristow, to cut things to 39-22. A layup from NSU's Whitney Long gave the Spartans a 41-22 halftime lead.
Norfolk State outscored Delaware State, 34-8, in the paint and 24-4 off of turnovers in the first half.
A three-point play coming out of halftime from Hawkins cut NSU's lead to 16 at 41-25 with 18:47 left in the game.
The Spartans would go up by 19 before the Lady Hornets went on a 7-0 run to come within 14 at 48-34 with just over 14-minutes remaining.
With a Bristow layup and Harmon jumper, Delaware State came within 11 points with 7:44 on the clock.
A 13-2 run from Norfolk State pushed the Spartans to a 22-point lead at 3:49 and the Lady Hornets wouldn't recover with time dwindling.Â
Tyisha Bridges led NSU in scoring with 18 points while Whitney Long contributed 17. Batavia Owens recorded 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Spartans shot 60.4 percent from the floor (32-for-53) compared to DSU's 45.1 percent (23-for-51).
The loss is Delaware State's sixth straight at home as they fall to 4-17 on the year and 1-7 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. Norfolk State improves to 9-12 and 4-6.
The Lady Hornets host MEAC-leading Hampton (17-4, 9-1 MEAC) on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall.
---DSU WBB---
