The Game
The Delaware State women's basketball team (6-15, 1-8 MEAC) will look to avoid a three-game losing streak Monday evening (5:30 p.m.) when it faces MEAC foe Savannah State Tigers (13-10, 6-3 MEAC) at home.
Media Coverage
» Live Broadcast (Free): http://www.youtube.com/user/DelawareStateU?DB_OEM_ID=12900&feature=g-high-lss
» Live Stats: http://www.dsuhornets.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?&&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=12900
» Twitter: @DSUwbb - @ DSUAthletics
The Opponent
» Savannah State Tigers (13-10, 6-3 MEAC)
Heading into Monday's contest, the Tigers are 3-2 in their last five games, coming off a 78-72 loss at Florida A&M on Feb. 3. For the season, guard Ezinne Kalu leads the team in scoring (16.5 ppg) and steals (55), while sitting second in assists (72). Down low, center Tiyonda Davis leads the Tigers in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and blocks (35), to go along with averaging 6.5 points per game.
» The Head Coach: Cedric Baker is in his 10th season with the Savannah State women's basketball program. Throughout his tenure, the Tigers have picked up notable wins over East Carolina (Conference USA), Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun-Belt), Georgia Southern (Southern Conference), Tennessee St. (OVC) and Mercer (Atlantic Sun).
» The Series: The Lady Hornets are 4-1 all-time against Savannah State. The two squads last met nearly 10 years ago to the date (Feb. 9, 2004) with the Tigers picking up a 62-59 victory at home.
A Win Would Mean…
» DSU's first victory over the Lady Tigers since Feb. 12, 2003.
» Delaware State's second conference win of the season, its first at home.
» The Lady Hornets would be 6-5 at home this season.
Last Time Out…
The Lady Hornets came up short to the visiting South Carolina State Bulldogs this past Saturday, 64-60. Despite the loss, DSU's Raven Bankston finished with a game-high 26 points (11-of-28), to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks after missing the previous game because of an ankle injury. Guard/forward Deanna Harmon, meanwhile, finished with 12 points (3-of-9), six rebounds and four assists as the only other Hornet to score in double figures. As a unit, DSU shot 40 percent (23-of-57) and were out-rebounded, 43-37. SCSU, on the other hand, was led by guard Cabriel Duren tallying 21 points (6-of-14), seven rebounds, five assists and four steals effort. Collectively, the Bulldogs shot 39 percent (22-of-57) and 71 percent (17-of-24) from the free throw line.
Bankston, Harmon Earn Weekly MEAC Player of the Week Awards
This past Monday, freshman Raven Bankston was named MEAC Player of the Week for the first time in her career, while senior Deanna Harmon tallied her first ever MEAC Defensive Player of the Week award. In two games, Bankston averaged 31.5 points, four rebounds and three assists per game, headlined by a career-high 35 points (13-of-23) in DSU's blowout victory at Morgan State. Harmon, on the other hand, averaged 16.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per contest, to go along with three steals. Against Wesley, she pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds and totaled five steals.
MEAC Struggles
Currently, Delaware State sits eighth in the MEAC standings with its 1-8 mark. In these nine games, the Lady Hornets are being outscored 69-59 and shooting 38 percent from the field, including 23 percent from long distance. On the glass, teams are out-rebounding DSU, 398-349, whereas the Hornets have struggled to take care of the ball with 160 turnovers, compared to 112 assists.
Can't Shake the Injury Bug
Throughout the season, the Lady Hornets have been hit hard on the injury front. Before playing a game, center Janay Carter and guard Aaliyah Davis both suffered season-ending knee injuries, whereas guard Raine Bankston also went down with a season-ending knee injury after starting five games.
Later in the year, guard Diamond Williams (ankle) missed three games before returning to action against NCCU (Jan. 18), while leading scorer and rebounder Tierra Hawkins re-aggravated a shoulder injury in practice and has missed the last four games. Hawkins originally suffered the injury in the first half against Coppin State (Dec. 7) and missed the next two games before returning at Marshall (Dec. 21). More recently, guard Raven Bankston suffered a sprained ankle in practice the day before the Coppin State game and did not suit up in DSU's loss at Coppin State (Feb. 3) for the first time this season.
Moving Up the Career List, Milestone Watch
Despite losing to SCSU on Monday, senior Deanna Harmon moved into 10th on DSU's all-time career steals (192). Harmon also needs five steals (257) to pass Mitzi Copes (1984-88) on the squad's all-time steals list.
At This Point Last Season…
The Lady Hornets were 8-22 and 5-3 in MEAC play, coming off a 61-51 loss at Norfolk State.
Coming Up Next…
Delaware State will head to Florida for back-to-back MEAC games, beginning with Bethune-Cookman this Saturday (2 p.m.).
