(Dover, Del.) – Nearly erasing a double digit halftime deficit, the Delaware State women's basketball team (6-16, 1-9 MEAC) put forth a courageous effort Monday evening at home against Savannah State (14-10, 7-3 MEAC), but it just was not enough as the Tigers pulled out a 77-71 victory.
With this loss, the Lady Hornets dropped their third straight game, whereas the Tigers picked up their third win in the last four games.
In the first half, SSU used a 10-2 run, sparked by back-to-back three's by guard's Jerryshia Williams and Jasmine Kirkland, to go up 34-23 at the 4:16 mark.
Going into the locker room, the Tigers led 40-29, behind 55 percent (17-of-31) shooting from the field with Kirkland pouring in 13 points (5-of-10) off the bench to lead all scorers. Down low, Savannah State scored 26 points and dominated on the glass with 18 rebounds, compared to DSU's six.
Despite DSU's slow start, it managed to cut the deficit to four twice to begin the half, before knocking SSU's lead down to two (46-44) with 13:08 remaining in regulation after a Deanna Harmon layup.
However, the Tigers answered with a 6-0 run, capped off by two Jasmine Norman free throws to put her squad back up by eight at the 10:26 mark, followed by a pair of Ezinne Kalu free throws a little over two minutes later to make it a 59-49 ball game.
Nevertheless, the Lady Hornets took advantage of SSU getting into foul trouble and scored their next 10 points from the charity stripe to pull within three (62-59) with less than five minutes to play.
Later in the stanza, with the Tigers now leading 66-59 after a bucket in the paint, DSU's N'Kayah Kersey drained a three, followed by two Mi'Queara Lewis free throws to cut the deficit to two with 3:08 remaining.
Not going down quietly, Delaware State cut SSU's lead to two once again, this time with Harmon finding guard Raven Bankston for a layup, which forced a Tiger timeout with under two minutes to play.
Coming out of the timeout, the Lady Hornets' defense held steady throughout the possession, until Kirkland found center Tiyonda Davis for a jumper on the left elbow as the shot clock expired.
The rest of the way, Savannah State did just enough at the free throw line to seal the win, despite a Bankston three that made it a 75-71 contest with 18 seconds to play.
At game's end, SSU had three players score in double figures, led by Kirkland's 24-point (9-of-17) and six-rebound performance. As a unit, the Tigers were tough to handle around the rim as they shot a staggering 49 percent (29-of-59) from the field with 44 points coming in the paint. In addition, Savannah State out-rebounded DSU (37-25) and totaled 18 second chance points.
In the case of the Lady Hornets, Harmon finished with a career-high 24 points (3-of-5), including an 18-for-19 (.947) effort from the charity stripe, which resulted in a modern-day school record. Harmon also pulled down five rebounds, while her four assists tied Mitzi Copes (1984-88) for third all-time on DSU's career assist list.
Bankston, who was named MEAC Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season earlier in the day, tallied 22 points (8-of-20) and five rebounds as the only other Hornet to score in double figures.
Coming up, the Lady Hornets will head to Florida for back-to-back MEAC games, beginning with Bethune-Cookman this Saturday (2 p.m.).
