(Boca Raton, Fla.) – In what was the final day of Florida Atlantic's Thanksgiving Tournament, the Delaware State women's basketball team (1-5) managed to pull off an up-and-down 76-69 victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers (1-4) not only for its first win of the season, but the first for head coach and Lady Hornet great, Barbara Burgess.

“I'm just very glad we played together from the very beginning,” said Burgess of her team's first victory since a 72-71 home triumph over Bethune-Cookman last season on Feb. 7. “I told them before that this game was going to have a lot spurts, but we just had to fight through them and play together and stay together.”

Burgess was right on cue predicating the game was going to have a lot spurts.  Little did she know, her team was going to open the game on a 13-0 run, capped off by a Mikah Aldridge 3-pointer at the 4:46 mark.   However, despite leading 19-11 at the end of the first quarter, DSU's advantage evaporated with the Mountaineers  outscoring the Lady Hornets in the second quarter (23-14), ending with a Kaila Craven trey with seven seconds left to give her team a one-point lead at the break.

Despite failing to sustain its strong early start, Burgess' halftime message was simple according to forward Amber Bogard, who had scored 10 of her first half 14 points in the second quarter.

“She pretty much just told us that the game wasn't over,” said Bogard, who was DSU's lone Preseason All-MEAC selection.  “Every team makes a run and that we just have to be the last team to make the run.” 

The third quarter, meanwhile, featured both teams shooting over 50 percent, but the Mountaineers still managed to take a 59-55 lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation.  However, the Hornets were cashing in from the charity stripe with a 17-for-25 (.680) effort, thanks to Bogard (6-of-7) and Aldridge (6-of-6) combining to shoot 93 percent.  App State, on the other hand, was just 9-for-19 (.474) from the free throw line.

Delaware State's strong output from the charity stripe carried over into the fourth quarter, as Aldridge sank a pair to give her squad a two-point lead with seven minutes to go.  Aldridge's free throws also resulted in DSU's first lead since a 35-34 advantage early on in the third quarter. 

A little over two minutes later, with App State back on top by one, freshman NaJai Pollard was fouled while shooting after pulling down one of her career-high 11 rebounds.  As a result, Pollard swished both attempts at the line to give the Lady Hornets a 66-65 lead, which sparked a 10-0 run up until App State's Keke Cooper nailed a jumper with 55 seconds left.         

“Towards the end, we did an excellent job off knocking down our free throws once App State started to foul,” said Burgess, as the Lady Hornets set season-high marks for free throws made (28), attempted (39) and percentage (.718).

Bogard, meanwhile, turned in her best performance of the season, totaling a career-high 29 points (10-of-16), along with setting new career marks for free throws made (9) and attempted (13).  Until this point, DSU's top returning scorer had only averaged 6.8 points a game on 33 percent (11-of-33) shooting in just 25 minutes per contest.

“This is what we want from her day in and day out,” stated Burgess of Bogard's strong play.  “I always tell her, the only person that can stop her is herself.  She also did a good job of battling through a minor shoulder injury.  I couldn't be more proud of her.”

Aldridge, on the other hand, scored a season-high 17 points, despite going 2-for-12 (.167) from the field.  However, her perfect 12-for-12 effort at the free throw line was a career-best.

Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will return home next Tuesday evening (7 p.m.) to face William & Mary. The Lady Hornets are 0-4 all-time against the Tribe.  

Stingers

Saturday's victory for DSU snapped a 14-game losing skid dating back to last season… This was DSU's first win away from Memorial Hall since a 56-54 overtime win at NJIT last season on Feb. 3… The Lady Hornets registered season-highs in points (76), field goal percentage (.426), field goals made (23), rebounds (38) and assists (11)… DSU scored 38 points in the paint, compared to App State's 36… DSU outscored App State in points off the bench (40-21), thanks to Amber Bogard's 29 points… Guard Bri Justice dished out a game-high five assists… The Lady Hornets are now 1-0 all-time against App State... Bogard garnered All-Tournament Team honors.