(Baltimore, Md.) – Saturday afternoon, the Delaware State women's basketball team (6-13, 1-6 MEAC) led early and often on the road against the Morgan State Bears (2-18, 0-7 MEAC) to pick up its first MEAC victory of the season, 86-66, led by a career-high 35 points (13-of-23) from guard Raven Bankston.
With this win, it marked the second time this season DSU has won back-to-back games, while the Bears dropped their 11th consecutive contest to stay winless in MEAC play.
“I just thought it was a total team effort today,” said head coach Tamika Louis after the game. “We were down in numbers but we were not down in spirits, so it was exciting to watch everyone come together today.”
One of the those numbers Louis referred to was leading scorer (20.7 ppg) and rebounder (10.2 rpg), forward Tierra Hawkins, who missed her second straight game due to a shoulder injury.
With the score knotted at 11 at the 15:47 mark, the Lady Hornets scored 13 unanswered points, capped off by a Bankston three. The rest of the way, Morgan State managed to cut the deficit to 11 twice, but the Lady Hornets answered each time, headlined by a 6-0 run to close the half to go up 47-30 at the break.
DSU's 47-point total on a staggering 50 percent (19-of-38) from the field was the most in a first half this season. Leading all scorers was Bankston with 15 points (7-of-15), while guard/forward Deanna Harmon added 11 points (4-of-5) and led all players with seven rebounds. Down low, Mi'Queara Lewis tallied nine points (3-of-7) and six rebounds, whereas forward Tylinn Carter provided a spark off the bench with six points (2-of-2), five rebounds and three steals.
In the case of Morgan State, guard Tracey Carrington tallied 13 points (5-of-9) as the only Bear to score in double figures.
Coming out of the locker room, Delaware State led by as many as 22 (56-34), after a Bankston jumper with 16:34 remaining on the clock. The remainder of the period, MSU never got within 10 points as the Lady Hornets held on for their second consecutive double digit victory.
At game's end, DSU turned in its best shooting performance at 53 percent (32-of-61), while holding Morgan State to just 34 percent (25-of-73) shooting from the field.
Bankston, who scored 20 points in the second half, finished with a career-high 35 points (13-of-23) and went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
“I just tried to stay focus and I told myself to keep my head up and keep shooting,” said Bankston, who also recorded six rebounds and four assists.
As for Harmon, who is from nearby Owings Mills, Md., she finished with 14 points (5-of-8) and nine rebounds. After the game, DSU's lone senior talked about how great of a team effort this win was.
“Today's team effort came from everybody working, knowing their role and playing hard and knowing what we had to do collectively to get this win,” she said.
Rounding out the top performers by DSU was Lewis pouring in a career-high 13 points (5-of-10), to go along with eight rebounds, whereas Carter recorded her first double-double of the season with a career-high 13 points (4-of-6) and 12 rebounds, which led all players. Carter also tallied a game-high three steals.
For Morgan State, Carrington poured in 25 points (9-of-20), 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will stay on the road and face the Coppin State Eagles on Monday (5:30 p.m.). Earlier in the season, the Lady Hornets fell 80-75 at home to CSU on Dec. 7.
