(Dover, Del.) – Despite freshman standout NaJai Pollard tallying her second-straight double-double (21 points – 10 rebounds), in addition to holding Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) leading scorer Malia Tate-DeFreitas (20.4 ppg) in check for most of Monday evening's contest, the Delaware State women's basketball team (8-18, 5-8 MEAC) suffered a 63-54 home loss to the Hampton Pirates (12-14, 10-3 MEAC).
With this defeat, the Lady Hornets fell to the Pirates for the 15th consecutive time, whereas Hampton bounced back from a surprising four-point (68-64) loss at Coppin State on Saturday to keep pace with North Carolina A&T and Morgan State for the top spot in the MEAC standings.
The first half featured both teams struggling offensively going a combined 14-of-51 (.274), along with each squad flip-flopping single-digit outputs in the first and second quarters. The Pirates, meanwhile, forced 18 DSU turnovers resulting in eight points, but the Hornets thankfully only trailed by four (21-17) at the break.
After intermission, the Lady Hornets found themselves down by seven twice to begin the third quarter. However, four consecutive points by Pollard sparked an 8-0 run to give DSU its second of the lead night (27-26), at the 5:53 mark after an Aaliyah Davis deuce. Hampton, on the other hand, regained the lead on its next possession with a put-back Kaylah Lupoe layup after the Lady Hornets had two tries to send the possession the other way.
The rest of the night, the Pirates never relinquished the lead again. In the fourth quarter, DSU was outscored, 26-20, headlined by Tate-DeFreitas scoring 13 of her 17 points (5-of-21) in the final 10 minutes. Backcourt mate K'Lynn Willis chipped in by scoring 11 of her game-high 22 points (6-of-17) during this stretch, whereas six of DSU's costly 28 turnovers down the stretch were too much to overcome.
At game's end, Pollard's performance resulted in her team-leading sixth double-double of the season, along with totaling two assists, two steals and a game-high four blocks. Pollard also went 9-for-11 (.818) from the charity stripe to lead all players. The only other Lady Hornet to score in double figures was guard N'Kayah Kersey with 11 points (3-of-7), highlighted by draining two treys.
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will hit the road for the final time, beginning this Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) against rival UMES. Earlier this season, the Hawks pulled off a comeback 70-61 victory at Memorial Hall on Feb. 13. Two days later, DSU will seek revenge against the Pirates in hopes of its first win over HU since a 58-36 home victory on Feb. 9, 2008.
