(Norfolk, Va.) – Coming in as the No. 13 seed, the Delaware State women's basketball team (8-21) fell 86-58 Monday afternoon at the Scope Arena to No. 4 Florida A&M (17-13) in the first round of the MEAC Tournament to end its season.
“Florida A&M is a very good and well coached senior laden team,” said head coach Tamika Louis after the game. “They did a lot of things defensively that kind of disrupted us, so what you saw was a very young team versus a real experienced team.”
In the first half, despite going 9-of-26 (.346) from the field, the Lady Hornets trailed 34-28 at the break after guard Raven Bankston drained a half-court shot as time expired. Bankston, who earned MEAC All-Rookie and Third Team honors earlier in the day, recorded 11 points (4-of-11) as the only Hornet in double figures.
FAMU, meanwhile, shot 36 percent (13-of-36) from the floor with guard Taneka Rubin leading all players with 12 points (5-of-11). Guard Jasmine Grice, who was named MEAC Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring (25.4 ppg) and steals (113) this season, had 10 points (4-of-11).
After intermission, Delaware State cut FAMU's lead to 34-30 at the 19:40 mark with guard/forward Deanna Harmon hitting two free throws. However, that would be the closes DSU would get the rest of the afternoon.
Over three next minutes, the Rattlers built a 10-point lead twice with Grice finishing at the rim both times to give her squad the double digit advantages. After a Bankston layup with 15:54 left in the game to make it a 46-38 contest, guard Kimberly Sparkman nailed a three to give the Rattlers their largest lead of the game at that point.
As the stanza progressed, the Lady Hornets battled back to cut FAMU's lead to nine with just under 12 minutes to play after Bankston drained her second trey of the game. Nevertheless, Florida A&M answered with a 10-3 run, spearheaded by Grice scoring six points to put the Rattlers up 67-51 with 9:40 remaining.
DSU, on the other hand, did not go away quietly as it scored six unanswered points to make it a 68-56 ball game with 6:54 left in regulation.
Unfortunately for the Lady Hornets, FAMU tightened up defensively and outscored DSU 18-2 in the final 6:39 to move on to the next round to face No. 5 Savannah State on Thursday (2:30 p.m.).
When the final buzzer sounded, the Rattlers scored 52 points in the second half, compared to Delaware State's 30, headlined by a 19-of-23 effort from the charity stripe. Additionally, FAMU shot 63 percent (15-of-24) in the second period to go 28-of-60 (.467) for the entire game.
“I think in the second half FAMU did a really good job of just turning up their defensive intensity and I think we were just rattled with their press,” said Louis relating to her squad's 24 turnovers for the game.
Finishing with a game-high 32 points (8-of-16), five steals and four assists, Grice also went 14-of-17 (.823) from the free throw line to lead all players. Sparkman, meanwhile, finished with 20 points (7-of-13) and five rebounds, whereas Rubin chipped in with 17 points (7-of-14), including a game-high three treys. On the glass, forward Tierra Prothro pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with seven points (2-of-7).
In the case of Delaware State, Bankston finished with 28 points (11-of-26), three rebounds, two assists and a team-high three steals to wrap up a sensational freshman season as the program's single-season scoring record holder (595).
Harmon, who played in her final game as the lone senior on the roster, finished with 16 points (4-of-7) and a team-high eight rebounds as the only other Hornet to score in double figures.
“I definitely enjoyed playing with my teammates this season,” said Harmon, who came within two points of becoming the 16th player in team history score 1,000 career points.
“The majority of the team is freshmen and how they all stepped up to the plate in dealing with the injuries I could not be any happier with them.”
Despite losing Harmon, the future is bright for the Lady Hornets with the entire team scheduled to return, including forward Tierra Hawkins. Hawkins, who has been inactive since Jan. 21 because of a shoulder injury, was one of eight players in the nation averaging 20+ points and 10+ rebounds per game before being sidelined.
