(Dover, Del.) – Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time this season, the Delaware State women's basketball team (1-2) defeated in-state foe Wilmington (0-2) Wednesday evening, 86-73, behind forward Tierra Hawkins tying a career-high in points (30) and rebounds (15).
With this scoring output, the junior out of Clinton, Md. tallied 1,000 career points to become the 15th player in team history to reach this milestone. Coming in, Hawkins needed two points to accomplish this feat, which occurred on DSU's first bucket of the game.
“It felt like a relief,” said Hawkins after putting the Lady Hornets up 2-0 with only 53 seconds gone by. “I was kind of nervous because I thought I was going to miss the first layup, but I just put it in.”
After Hawkins' game-opening basket, the Lady Hornets went up 5-0, until WU went on an 8-0 run with center Allison McDonald and guard Tenicia Spence both scoring four points.
Attempting to shake off the slow start, DSU scored 10 straight points after the first media timeout, spearheaded by forward Deanna Harmon converting on three layups to put her squad up by seven at the 10:25 mark.
As the half progressed, so did Delaware State's offensive attack as it outscored the Wildcats 22-5 in the final five minutes to take a 42-27 lead into the locker room. During this stretch, Hawkins scored seven points, including a three-point play after drawing a foul on guard Patricia Miranda, whereas the Bankston sisters, Raven and Raine, combined for 11 points.
Despite pulling away at the end of the first half, Hawkins, who had 16 (7-of-10) points, five rebounds and two blocks at the midway point, expressed that the team was a bit nervous to start the game.
“We came out nervous, but then Coach (Tamika) Louis talked to us and then we just locked down and played like how we do.”
In the second stanza, the Lady Hornets continued their strong play by managing to build a 20-point lead (65-45) at the 10:45 mark after a layup by Rav. Bankston.
Nevertheless, the Lady Wildcats did not go down without a fight as they went on a 17-8 run to make it a 73-62 ball game after a layup by Miranda with 5:46 left in regulation.
Regardless of the late surge by WU, Delaware State built its lead back up to 18 as part of a 9-2 run with a little over two minutes to play and held on for its first victory of the season.
When the final buzzer sounded, four DSU players finished with 10 or more points led by Hawkins' second straight double-double output of the season. Hawkins also tied a career-high in field goals (13) and totaled two blocks.
“It always nice to see a kid do what she did out there today,” said head coach Tamika Louis after the game. “She's a special player and with everything she's been through to get here, scoring 1,000 points is a huge accomplishment.”
Rav. Bankston, meanwhile, tallied 17 points for the second straight game, despite going 6-for-15 (.400) from the field, whereas her sister poured in a season-high 14 points (3-for-18) and dished out a game-high five assists.
In the case of Harmon, she finished the night with 10 (4-for-5) points, eight rebounds and a game-high three steals.
Leading the way for Wilmington was Spence with 26 points on 8-for-15 (.533) shooting, including 10-for-10 from the free throw line, while Miranda finished with 17 (7-of-9) points.
Coming up, the Lady Hornets will hit the road for back-to-back games in the state of New York, beginning with Albany on Sunday (2 p.m.), followed by Manhattan on Tuesday (4 p.m.).
