(Norfolk, Va.) – Tuesday afternoon, the 10th-seeded Delaware State women's basketball team (9-21) saw its season come to a disappointing end by way of a 79-74 loss suffered at the hands of the fourth-seeded Florida A&M Rattlers (16-14) in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament, despite MEAC Rookie of the Year NaJai Pollard totaling her eighth double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points (10-of-16) and 14 boards.

With this loss, DSU failed to secure its first MEAC Tournament win since 2013, in addition dropping its fifth straight to the Rattlers.  FAMU, meanwhile, snapped a two-game slide to move on to face No. 2 North Carolina A&T on Wednesday afternoon (2 p.m.).

Early on, it seemed as if Tuesday's contest was going to play out exactly how it did for DSU in its 30-point (86-56) loss at FAMU on Feb. 9, highlighted by the Rattlers leading by as many as 17 in the opening quarter.  This time around, FAMU built its lead to 14 (22-8) by the end of the first 10 minutes, beginning with an 8-0 run.

Despite trailing by 15 on four separate occasions in the second quarter, the Lady Hornets responded by outscoring the Rattlers by eight (22-14) during the period, thanks to a thunderous 12-0 run, capped off by a Nikkei Blackburn put-back layup to make it a 33-32 ball game at the 1:12 mark.    

After intermission, the Hornets found themselves down 41-35 with 2:24 gone by in the third quarter, until senior N'Kayah Kersey found Pollard underneath the basket to cap off a 6-0 run to knot the game up at 41 with 6:21 remaining.  However, FAMU responded with an 11-2 outburst to push its lead by back to nine (52-43), in addition to taking a six-point (55-49) lead into the final quarter.

Unfortunately for DSU, FAMU's strong close to the third quarter carried over by building its lead back to double-digits (62-49) with five unanswered points to begin the fourth.  The Lady Hornets managed to get the deficit back to single-digits, thanks to back-to-back layups by Pollard to make it a 62-53 contest at the 7:08 mark.  Nevertheless, FAMU responded yet again, this time holding a double-digit advantage all the way up until a Bobbi Floyd layup made it a 74-65 ball game with 45 seconds left.

When the final buzzer sounded, four Rattlers scored in double figures, led by Khadejra Young's 20 points (8-of-11). Guard Kenya Dixon poured in 18 points (5-of-7), including draining four 3-pointers.  For DSU, Blackburn was the only Hornet to score double figures with 12 points (6-of-12), whereas leading scorer Mikah Aldridge (12.3 ppg) was held to eight points on just 2-for-8 (.025) shooting.

Looking ahead to next season, the Columbia Blue & Red are set to return nine players in 2016-17, headlined by Pollard looking to build on a stellar freshman season.

Stingers

DSU lost the battle on the boards (41-38), despite NaJai Pollard's game-high 14 rebounds… Pollard also registered her fourth 20-and-10 performance of the season… DSU went just 9-for-17 (.529) from the charity stripe, while FAMU went 18-for-31 (.581)… FAMU shot 54 percent (15-of-28) in the second half to finish the game at 48 percent (28-of-58)…The Hornets are now 21-34 all-time in the MEAC Tournament… FAMU now leads the all-time against DSU, 34-19.