(Greensboro, N.C.) -- Monday evening on the road, the Delaware State women's basketball team (4-13, 0-6 MEAC) nearly picked up its first conference win, but a strong second half output by the North Carolina A&T Aggies (12-3, 2-1 MEAC) was just enough to edge out a 50-47 victory.    

With this loss, the Lady Hornets dropped their fourth in a row and moved to 0-6 in MEAC play for the first time in team history.

In the first half, it was a rough outing for both teams on the offensive end, but Delaware State led the entire way and held a 23-14 lead at the break, despite shooting 31 percent (8-of-26) from the field.

DSU's Raven Bankston led all scorers with 12 points (5-of-10), whereas the team's leading scorer and rebounder, Tierra Hawkins, struggled on just 1-for-9 (.111) shooting for three points. Hawkins did, however, lead all players with eight rebounds.  

A&T, on the other hand, was just 6-for-32 (.188) from the floor, missed all 10 attempts from the beyond the arc and committed 13 turnovers.   

After intermission, the Aggies roared back quickly to tie the game at 25 on an April McRae layup at the 15:35 mark in the midst of an 11-2 run.  On A&T's next possession, after a missed jumper by Bankston, McRae connected down low once again, followed by an Eboni Ross layup to give A&T a 29-25 advantage with 14:49 left in regulation.

As the half progressed, the Aggies led by as many eight twice over the next nine minutes, until a Hawkins fast break layup made it a 42-37 ball game with 4:11 remaining on the clock.  

Later in the period, with A&T now leading 46-39, DSU's Jade Washington found guard N'Kayah Kersey on the left wing for a three to bring the Lady Hornets within four at the 1:58 mark.

On Delaware State's next possession, after McRae went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe, guard/forward Deanna Harmon converted down low, despite being fouled by guard/forward DeAndre Davis in the process.  Harmon later made the free throw to pull DSU within two with 1:17 remaining in regulation.

The next trip down, the Lady Hornets got a stop and Harmon was fouled on the other end.  With Delaware State in the bonus, Harmon drained two clutch free throws to knot the game at 47 with 47 seconds to play.

Nevertheless, the Aggies answered with a clutch play of their own when McCrae kicked it out to guard Debbie Smith for a three to give A&T a 50-47 lead with 20 seconds left.  Up until that point, Smith was 0-for-5 from long distance.

After a timeout by the Aggies, the Lady Hornets managed to get the ball across half court, but had to burn a timeout with four seconds to play with Harmon trapped in the corner near DSU's bench.  

With the Lady Hornets inbounding the ball under the rim, Bankston was able to get off a heavily contested three in the corner after coming off a screen, but her attempt fell short as time expired.

At game's end, the Aggies outscored Delaware State, 36-24, in the second stanza on 47 percent (14-of-30) shooting, while going 3-for-5 (.600) from three-point range. 

The highest point-getter for A&T was guard Christina Carter with 16 points (6-of-12), who tallied a team-high two three-pointers and five assists. Down low, McRae scored all of her 11 points (5-of-7) in the second half and recorded seven rebounds.  Off the bench, Ross added nine points (4-of-7) and a team-high nine rebounds.  Collectively, North Carolina A&T scored 26 of its 50 points in the paint.

In the case of Delaware State, it shot 31 percent (16-of-51) from the floor with Bankston leading the way with a team-high 20 points (7-of-22). Hawkins, despite 11 points on a rough 5-for-18 (.278) shooting night, pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Harmon also finished the night in double figures with 10 points (2-of-4), whereas Washington recorded five assists.

Coming up, the Lady Hornets will return home to face Wesley next Monday at 5:30 p.m.