(Baltimore, Md.) – The Delaware State women's basketball team (3-11, 0-1 MEAC) could not have asked for a better start on the road in its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest of the season, scoring the game's first seven points on its way to a 15-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter, but the Morgan State Bears (4-11, 2-1 MEAC) battled back to pull off a 56-49 victory.

With this loss, DSU failed to register a win in a conference opener for the first time since 2012-13, in addition to suffering its third consecutive loss.  For Morgan State, Saturday's win was its second victory in the last three games.

The first 10 minutes for the Lady Hornets featured a 7-for-13 (.538) effort from the field, along with freshman sensation NaJai Pollard scoring eight of her career-high 16 points (8-of-11).  The Bears, meanwhile, responded in the second quarter by outscoring Delaware State, 19-6, along with limiting the Hornets to just two field goals and forcing 10 turnovers.

As the rest of the afternoon played out, DSU stayed within striking distance managing to cut MSU's deficit to four a handful of times, with the last occurring at the 1:47 mark in the fourth quarter.  However, totaling 29 turnovers and allowing 21 offensive boards throughout the afternoon turned out to be too much to overcome, despite shooting a season-best 47 percent (21-of-45). 

The Bears, on the other hand, was limited to 32 percent (18-of-56) from the field, but three players tallied double figures in the scoring column, led by leading scorer Braennan Farrar (13.6 ppg) pouring in a game-high 18 points (5-of-14).  Off the bench, Tykyrah Williams (15) and Chelsea Mitchell (10) combined for 25 points, respectively.

For DSU, forward Amber Bogard finished with 13 points (6-of-11) to extend her streak of scoring in double figures to seven games, whereas Pollard fell rebound shy of her fourth double-double of the season.  DSU's leading scorer Mikah Aldridge (11.6 ppg) had an afternoon to forget, as she was limited to six points on a dismal 1-for-6 (.167) output from the field.   

Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will continue MEAC action this Monday evening (5 p.m.) at home against the Howard Bison.  Last season, the two squads met once, with the Lady Hornets pulling out an eight-point victory on the road.  

Stingers

DSU's 29 turnovers marked a season-high… The Lady Hornets have now suffered four consecutive road losses, in addition to dropping three in a row to Morgan State… The Bears had more offensive rebounds (21) than defensive boards (18)… DSU went 5-for-7 (.714) from the charity stripe, whereas MSU went 16-for-23 (.696)… NaJai Pollard's statline also featured a team-high two blocks and three steals, while her eight field goals was a career-high… The Bears tallied 19 points off turnovers… DSU is now 38-35 all-time against the Bears.