(Dover, Del.) – Saturday evening, the Delaware State women's basketball team (0-1) faced an uphill climb early and often on the road during its 2015-16 season opener, which was also the first game for head coach Barbara Burgess, as the Big 12's West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) cruised to a 77-34 victory.
With this loss, the Lady Hornets dropped to 13-26 all-time in season openers, whereas the Mountaineers pushed its record to 4-1 overall against Delaware State.
Setting the tone early, WVU tallied the game's first 12 points, until DSU's Bri Justice stopped the bleeding with a layup at the 4:06 mark in the first quarter. The Mountaineers went on to lead by as many as 21 on two separate occasions throughout the opening stanza, as they took a 35-15 lead into the locker room. Shooting a respectable 45 percent (15-of-33), WVU also pulled down 10 of its 28 boards on the offensive end, which resulted in 11 second-chance points. The Lady Hornets, meanwhile, went just 5-for-29 (.172) from the floor in the first half, including a 1-for-9f (.111) effort from beyond the arc.
The rest of the way, the Mountaineers' defense continued to stymie the Lady Hornets, holding them to just 30 percent (7-of-23) shooting. On the other end, WVU scored 25 points in the third quarter, capped off by guard Alexis Brewer draining a three to make it a 60-26 ball game heading to the fourth.
When the final buzzer sounded, three Mountaineers scored in double figures, led by Brewer's 14 points (6-of-7) points off the bench. Down low, the Big 12's top returning rebounder in center Lanay Montgomery nearly recorded a double-double with nine points on a perfect 4-for-4 night from the floor, along with a game-high 10 boards.
DSU, on other the other hand, featured Justice (3-of-7) and guard N'Kayah Kersey (2-of-8) registering team-highs in points (8), whereas top returning scorers Amber Bogard (2-of-7) and Mikah Aldridge (0-of-8) shot a combined 13 percent (2-of-15).
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will return to Memorial Hall for the first time this season next Wednesday evening (7 p.m.) to face the Mount St. Mary's Mounts. Last season, the Hornets suffered a 73-64 road loss to the Mounts.
Stingers
WVU won the battle on the boards, 52-29… DSU was held to under 40 points for the first time since falling 79-38 at North Carolina A&T last season… Saturday's loss was DSU's 10th straight dating back to last season... Guard Bri Justice's eight points marked a career-high… WVU scored 42 points in the paint, compared to DSU's 10.
