(Princess Anne, Md.) – Saturday afternoon, the Delaware State women's basketball team (5-18, 2-8 MEAC) raced out to a 10-point lead on two separate occasions in the opening minutes, but the Hornets could not recover from a 21-0 outburst by the UMES Hawks (9-13, 6-6 MEAC) later in the first stanza, resulting in a 96-59 defeat. 

With this loss, the Hornets have now dropped two out of their last four, whereas UMES picked up its second straight victory after coming away with a 10-point win at Norfolk State on Monday.

Scoring the game's first 10 points, DSU led 14-4 after an Amber Bogard layup with only 4:48 gone by. However, Delaware State did not score again until forward Tierra Hawkins hit a jumper at the 10:55 mark that made it a 25-16 ball game, snapping the Hawks' thunderous 21-0 run.

UMES went on to lead by as many as 19 before the halftime buzzer sounded, eventually taking a 49-35 lead into the locker room, behind a blistering 60 percent (21-of-35) output from the field.  The Hawks also had three players register double digits in the scoring column, spearheaded by forward Alexis Udoji's 12 points (6-of-9). 

Despite shooting 59 percent (13-of-22) from the floor, led by guard Mikah Aldridge (13) and Hawkins (12) scoring in double figures, Delaware State was bothered heavily by UMES's full court pressure, giving up 24 points off 15 turnovers, in addition to allowing 34 points in the paint.

The second half, meanwhile, featured UMES opening an 18-4 run to take its largest lead of the game at the point after Udoji converted in the paint with 12:43 remaining.  The rest of the way, DSU failed to get within 25, as UMES finished the afternoon shooting 55 percent (39-of-71).   

At game's end, five Hawks scored in double figures, led by guard TeAmber Burke's game-high 22 points (8-of-10) off the bench, whereas Udoji (9-of-14) and guard Jessica Long (7-of-16) both had 18.  Long also added a career-high 11 assists for her second double-double of the season.

For DSU, Hawkins' 21 points (7-of-13) led the way for four Hornets registering double figures in the scoring column, but saw her streak of three consecutive double-doubles snapped with a team-high seven boards.

Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will return to Memorial Hall Monday evening (5:30 p.m.) to take on Coppin State.  Last season, the Eagles swept season series.

Stingers

UMES's 96 points was a season-high, while guard Shawnee Sweeney drained four of her squad's 3-pointers... The Hawks won the battle on the boards (38-27), led by Alexis Udoji's game-high nine... DSU shot 47 percent (20-of-43) for the game, while committing 27 turnovers... UMES scored 58 points in the paint, along with 42 points off turnovers... Mikah Aldridge (13), Amber Bogard (10) and Nikkei Blackburn (10) all scored in double figures for DSU.