(Savannah, Ga.) – The Delaware State women's basketball team (5-12, 2-2 MEAC) registered its highest point total of any half this season (49) in the first stanza Monday night on its way to pulling out a 67-59 road victory over the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament champion Savannah State Tigers (5-11, 2-3 MEAC).

“We did a good job of containing their inside scoring attack by throwing a couple of different looks at them, which forced them into some turnovers that were able to capitalize on,” said first-year head coach Barbara Burgess.  “We were able to get Mikah (Aldridge) and Amber (Bogard) hot early as well, which was a great sign going forward.”

The victory for DSU not only snapped a five-game road skid, but the triumph matched last season's overall (5) and conference (2) win totals.  For Savannah State, it concluded its season-long five-game homestand at 3-2, in addition to being denied its first three-game winning streak of the year.  

“Our defense throughout the evening is what sparked our offense,” stated Burgess, as DSU scored 26 points off of 24 Savannah State turnovers at game's end.  “Early on, we were able to get convert on some easy opportunities because we were executing our defensive game plan at a very high rate.”

Delaware State's scorching first half was sparked by a 10-0 run in the first quarter, capped off by Aldridge draining one of her three treys during the opening 20 minutes. The second quarter featured DSU using another huge run, this time outscoring the Tigers 16-5 during nearly a six-minute stretch to go up by as many as 24. 

Holding a 49-33 advantage at the break, DSU only missed nine shots, compared to connecting on 18 field goals, along with going a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

“We just did a good job taking care of the ball, feeding the post and when the post got doubled, we did a good job of knocking down open shots,” said Aldridge, who finished the half scoring 19 points of her team-high 25 points (10-of-15).  “I was able to just let the game come to me and my shots were falling today.  I just kept attacking and everything just fell into place.”

Turning in a monster performance also in the first half was leading scorer Amber Bogard (12.5 ppg), totaling 15 of her 21 points (7-of-13).  With this effort, Bogard extended her streak of scoring in double figures to 10, in addition to registering her second game of tallying 20 points or more this season.

“I just really focus on converting when I'm around the basket because that's where I take the majority of shots,” said Bogard of her night, which also featured a perfect 6-for-6 output at the free throw line, four rebounds and a game-high three blocks.  “This win gave our team a lot of confidence because were down on ourselves a little bit after losing to South Carolina State on Saturday.  Hopefully, we can build on this going forward.”

The Hornets' offensive outburst came as somewhat as a surprise, considering the Tigers were one of the better defensive teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) coming into Monday's contest second in field goal percentage allowed (.368) and third in scoring defense (60.7 ppg).

The second half featured the Hornets cooling down considerably from the field going 7-for-22 (.318), in addition to seeing its lead cut to single-digits at the 2:59 mark in the fourth quarter, after guard Rhianna Warren swished a pair of free throws to make it a 63-54 contest.  The Tigers got it to as low as six with Warren hitting a three, but it was too little too late with two seconds remaining. 

Although what highlighted the evening was approximately a 15-minute break in the action due to the Tiger Arena fire alarm sounding off with Aldridge at the line for two hoping to extend DSU's lead to nine with 29 seconds left.  As a result, everyone in the building, including both teams, was forced to evacuate immediately. 

“It was such an awkward moment for us,” said Aldridge. “I was getting kind of nervous if I was going to miss my free throws, which I ended doing.  But, my teammates had my back and we still won.”

Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will return to Memorial Hall for a season-long three-game homestand, beginning this Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) against North Carolina Central.  Last season, the two squads met once, with the Lady Hornets 66-59 on the road.

Stingers

DSU finished the game shooting 51 percent (25-of-49) from the field, which was its second highest output of the season… Forward NaJai Pollard came off the bench to score 10 of DSU's 12 bench points… The Hornets were outrebounded, 39-28, thanks to Savannah State's Tiyonda Davis pulling a game-high 12 boards… The Hornets scored 24 points in the paint, compared to SSU's 18… The Cleveland, Ohio duo of Mikah Aldridge and Amber Bogard combined for 46 points (17-of-28)… Aldridge's 25 points matched a career-high… The Hornets had eight blocks to SSU's one… DSU had 14 steals, highlighted by guard N'Kayah Kersey's career-high six, which is most by any Hornet this season... Savannah State's Kenyata Hendrix scored a game-high 27 points (9-of-16), which included a 5-for-10 (.500) effort from long distance… DSU is now 5-3 all-time against the Tigers… There was no fire reported inside of Tiger Arena.