(Princess Anne, Md.) – In what was a game that did not see much offense, the Delaware State women's basketball team (8-19, 5-9 MEAC) outscored the UMES Hawks (11-16, 9-6 MEAC) 20-19 in the final 10 minutes, but the Lady Hornets could not overcome a 8-for-33 (.242) offensive effort in the first half to fall 54-49 on the road Saturday afternoon.
With this loss, the Hornets dropped their second straight, in addition to suffering their third consecutive road defeat. Despite only shooting 39 percent (17-of-44), including a 0-for-10 output from long distance, the Hawks churned out their fifth victory in a row, which began with a 70-61 comeback win at DSU on Feb. 13.
Totaling just 18 first half points, the Hornets found some life in the final 1:04 of the third quarter with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Nikkei Blackburn layup right before the buzzer sounded. The Hornets continued their push into fourth quarter with guard Aliah Stinnett draining a jumper inside the arc, followed by guard Mikah Aldridge nailing one of two 3-pointers of the afternoon to make it a one-point ball game (35-34) in favor of UMES with 8:58 remaining.
The final quarter progressed with UMES building its lead to seven (43-36), thanks to a Ra'Jean Martin layup at the 6:09 mark. However, DSU freshman Ivana Negron found her stroke from downtown, draining three consecutive treys with the last to knot it up at 47 with 2:46 to play.
Unfortunately, DSU scored just two points the rest of the way, thanks to a pair of free throws by senior N'Kayah Kersey with 29 seconds left that made it a three-point contest (52-49). The following possession, UMES's Ciana Byrom swished two at the line after a foul by Kersey, which was proceeded by an Aaliyah Davis missed 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to seal it.
At game's end, Aldridge was the lone Hornet to score in double figures with 10 points (4-of-14), whereas second leading scorer NaJai Pollard (11.5 ppg) totaled just five points (2-of-8) and seven boards due to foul trouble. Coming into to Saturday's contest, the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week was averaging 21.3 points and 10.0 rebounds over her last three games. On a positive note, Blackburn registered eight points (4-of-8) and a game-high 12 boards.
DSU's day in the foul department featured 31 total infractions, resulting 39 Hawk free throw attempts to the Hornets' five. UMES, however, only totaled 20 makes at the charity stripe to shoot a dismal 51 percent. Nevertheless, Byrom finished with a game-high 19 points (7-of-12), in addition to dishing out seven out of UMES's eight dimes to lead all players.
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will take on the Hampton Pirates Monday night (5:30 p.m.), in what will be DSU's final road game of the season. The Hornets have lost 15 in a row to the Pirates – most recently a 63-54 last Monday at home. DSU's last victory over Hampton, meanwhile, occurred on Feb. 9, 2008 at home by way of a 58-36 home win.
Stingers
The Hornets shot 29 percent (20-of-68) from the field, making it the fifth time this season they have been held under 30 percent… Saturday's game featured a combined 39 turnovers, with DSU committing 20… The Hornets were 5-for-25 (.200) from long distance… DSU won the battle on the boards (43-41), thanks to
Nikkei Blackburn registering her fourth double-digit rebounding game of the season… The Hornets have now dropped five out of their last six to UMES… Delaware State is now 49-38 all-time against the Hawks.
