(Dover, Del.) – Monday evening in its first home contest of the season, the Delaware State women's basketball team (1-3) pulled out a 71-60 victory over the Millersville Marauders (3-2), behind the scoring tandem of guard Raven Bankston (7-of-11) and Tierra Hawkins (7-of-14) entering the 20-point mark, respectively.
With this victory, the Lady Hornets snapped a three-game skid, while Millersville has now dropped two out of its last three.
Shooting 50 percent (15-of-30) from the floor in the first stanza, DSU took a 41-21 lead into the locker room, its largest lead at that point, led by Bankston's 14 points (6-of-8) as the only player in double figures for both squads.
To begin the second half, the Lady Hornets scored six unanswered points to capture their largest margin of the evening, capped off by back-to-back buckets by Hawkins. As a result, Millersville called a timeout with 18:21 left in the game to stop the bleeding.
The Marauders, however, got back in the game with a 10-2 run to make it a 54-44 contest at the 10:59 mark with Tyisha White scoring four points and Alex Stam and Shelby Reimer draining back-to-back 3-pointers during this stretch.
As the half progressed, Millersville stayed within striking distance by cutting DSU's lead to seven with 4:06 remaining, after forward Courtney Hinnant split a pair at the charity stripe.
Nevertheless, the Lady Hornets answered on back-to-back possessions with Hawkins draining a pair at the line, followed by Jade Washington coming away with a steal and finishing with an uncontested layup on the other end with 2:32 left in regulation. The rest of the way, Millersville never gotten within eight as the Lady Hornets moved to 24-15 all-time in home openers.
At game's end, Delaware shot 45 percent (24-of-53) from the field, whereas Millersville was limited to just 31 percent (23-of-74), including a 7-for-29 (.241) effort from 3-point range.
Despite totaling just seven points in the second half, Bankston finished with a game-high 21 points (7-of-11) as one of three DSU players to score in double figures, along with totaling a season-high seven boards and three steals.
Down low, Hawkins finished with 20 points (7-of-13) and eight rebounds, while forward Amber Bogard recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points (4-of-12) and 10 rebounds, in addition to a game-high three blocks.
For Millersville, Reimer finished with a team-high 14 points (5-of-13), whereas guard Carly Gallagher pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and recorded 13 points on just 5-for-23 shooting (.217).
Coming up, the Columba Blue & Red will begin a season-long seven-game road swing this Wednesday evening (7 p.m.) against Mount St. Mary's.
Stingers
Millersville outrebounded the Lady Hornets, 49-44… DSU totaled a season-high 12 steals, led by Jade Washington matching a career-high (4)… Tierra Hawkins has scored at least 20 points in every game this season… DSU scored 19 points off 19 Millersville turnovers.
