(Dover, Del.) – Tuesday afternoon, the Delaware State women's basketball team (3-8) turned in arguably its best all-around performance of the season with a convincing 88-63 home victory over the Longwood Lancers (3-8), headlined by a season-high five players scoring in double figures, including a career-high 25 points (7-of-16) by guard Mikah Aldridge.

With this win, the Lady Hornets not only tallied back-to-back double digit home victories for the first time since 2012-13, but the triumph was DSU's second in the last three games.

"The more we're playing, the better we're getting," said head coach Barbara Burgess.  "Our last win, we put together four quarters and that's what we did for the most part today.  At one point in time, it was a quarter here, a quarter there.  Now that we know how to play all four quarters, it's just bringing that every time we hit the floor."

Trailing 16-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Hornets erupted for a 30-point output over the next 10 minutes, highlighted by a thunderous 19-0 run in the final 4:22.  During this stretch, forward NaJai Pollard -­ the reigning back-to-back Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Week Award winner – scored eight of her 13 points (6-of-12), whereas Aldridge and guard Aaliyah Davis drilled back-to-back treys to put the Hornets up by 14 with just over a minute to play before halftime.    

"Coach (Burgess) has been pushing me very, very hard and so have my teammates and that pushes me to do even better," said Pollard, who tallied career-highs in rebounds (13) and blocks (5).  "My family was also here today, which kind of made me play a little bit better."  

The rest of the way, DSU's defensive prowess stymied Longwood, limiting the Lancers to just 24 percent (10-of-41) in the second half, including a 2-for-11 (.182) effort from long distance.  Delaware State, on the other hand, cooled down slightly from its 50 percent (17-of-34) output in the opening stanza to shoot 40 percent (12-of-30) in the final 20 minutes. 

"I think one thing that helps us is that we can play multiple sets on the defensive end," stated Burgess.  "We started off in man-to-man, but then we switched up to a 3-2 zone later on.  We were able to stop some of their scorers and the momentum they were getting, which ended up with us creating turnovers and scoring on the other end."

Aldridge, who is averaging 17.4 points per contest in her last six games, scored 13 of her game-high 25 points in the second half.  For the Cleveland, Ohio native, she had a feeling she would have a good game, considering it was her 20th birthday.

"I woke up feeling great and I knew we were going to come out strong," said Aldridge, who tied a career-high in 3-pointers made (4), along with setting season-high marks for rebounds (6) and assists (5).  "I was just in a great rhythm all game and we all did a good job of playing together as a team."

From long distance, Delaware State set a modern day school-record with 11 3-pointers made, thanks in large part to Aldridge (4), sophomore Bri Justice (3), Davis (2) and freshman Ivana Negron (2). 

Playing in just her second game of the season, Davis has made an immediate impact, especially from beyond the arc going 4-for-6 (.666).

"Today's performance definitely boosted my confidence going forward," said Davis.  "I'm trying to add on to what the team already has built so far this season.  My teammates were expecting a lot of me before I came back, so I just trying to do the best I can to contribute."

On the glass, the Lady Hornets registered a season-high 51 rebounds, including 41 on the defensive end.  In addition to Pollard's 13 snags, fellow freshman Bobbi Floyd nearly missed out on a double-double with nine points (3-of-7) and a career-high 11 rebounds.     

Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will return to action after the Christmas Holiday on Wednesday, Dec. 30 (3 p.m.) at home against Hofstra.  Delaware State is 1-1 all-time against the Pride.  

Stingers

DSU set season-highs in points (88), field goals made (29), field goal percentage (.453) and blocks (8)… The Hornets limited Longwood to 25 percent (19-of-75) shooting, which was the lowest field goal percentage an opponent has shot this season… Freshman NaJai Pollard's game-high five blocks was the third most in DSU single-game history, while her season double-double now stands at a team-best three… Guard Bri Justice's game-high six assists tied a career-high, while her point total (10) and 3-pointers made (3) set new career-bests… Forward Amber Bogard (10) reached double figures in the scoring column for the fourth consecutive game… Sophomore Mikah Aldridge went 7-for-9 (.778) from the charity stripe to push her career free throw total to 101.