(Dover, Del.) – In its final contest of a season-long three-game homestand, the Delaware State women's basketball team (3-13, 1-3 MEAC) faced an uphill climb early and often Monday evening against the Savannah State Tigers (9-9, 4-2 MEAC), suffering a 76-45 defeat.
With this loss, the Lady Hornets dropped their second straight game, while SSU bounced back from a double digit loss at UMES on Saturday to win four out of its last five.
Trailing 9-4 at the 12:26 mark, DSU went scoreless for nearly the next six minutes, resulting in 12 unanswered points by the Tigers. SSU would go on to lead by as many as 19 before taking a 35-21 advantage into the locker room at halftime, behind guard Kenyata Hendrix pouring in 12 points (4-of-8) and leading scorer Ezinne Kalu (17.4 ppg) tallying 10 points (4-of-12).
Delaware State, meanwhile, were bottled up by SSU's defense with 21 turnovers, in addition to being held to 33 percent (6-of-18) shooting. Guard Mikah Aldridge, however, registered 11 points (2-of-4), including a perfect 6-for-6 effort at the charity stripe.
The second half started off much of the same with the Tigers making it a 43-23 ball game, after a Jazmine Thomas layup with 16:58 left. However, DSU used a 15-2 run to get back in the game, sparked by an Aldridge trey, which marked the 11th straight game she's hit a 3-pointer.
Despite seeing its lead cut to eight with just under 12 minutes to play, Savannah State responded with a thunderous 27-2 run to put the game out of reach for the Lady Hornets, headlined by four made 3-pointers.
At game's end, SSU finished with three players scoring in double figures, led by Hendrix's game-high 20 points on 7-for-13 (.538) shooting, including a 50 percent (4-of-8) effort from long distance. Along with dropping 16 points (7-of-20), Kalu finished with a game-high six steals, whereas center Tiyonda Davis pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.
For DSU, forward Tierra Hawkins, who was named MEAC Player of the Week earlier in the day, led the way with 16 points (7-of-18). Unfortunately, she saw her streak of four straight games with a double-double snapped with a team-high nine rebounds. Aldridge slowed down considerably after a strong to finish with just 14 points (3-of-9), as the only other Hornet to score in double figures.
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will tipoff a four-game road swing this Saturday (2 p.m.) against North Carolina A&T.
Stingers
The Lady Hornets were held to 36 percent (17-of-47) shooting… DSU committed a season-high 31 turnovers, resulting in 31 SSU points… Delaware State was outrebounded, 45-27… DSU's 45 points marked its lowest scoring output of the season… The Lady Hornets totaled as season-high eight blocks, led by Tierra Hawkins and guard Aliah Stinnett notching three.
