Dover, Del. (Feb. 23) --- The Lady Hornets defeated Maryland Eastern Shore 65-62, during breast cancer awareness night (Play 4 Kay) at Memorial Hall.
Lady Hawks guard Ra'Jean Martin's three-point attempt clanked off the rim as time expired.
NaJai Pollard made one of two free throws to give DSU a 65-62 lead with six seconds left.
Ra'Jean Martin steals the ball from Lady Hornets guard Genell Addison and converts on a three-point play. Cutting their deficit down to just two points, with the score at 64-62 with 1:28 left. Bairesha Gill-Miles stole the ball from DSU guard Lanayjha Ashe, and scored on a transition layup, cutting the deficit to five with just under two minutes left in the game.
The Lady Hornets trailed by one point, heading into the fourth quarter. DSU went on a 15-4 run spanning over six minutes of game play. The run was capped off by a layup from Tylea Galloway, after a terrific pass from Lanayjha Ashe, giving DSU a 62-53 lead with 4:41 left in the game.
Maryland Eastern Shore outscored Delaware State 20-14 in the third quarter. There were five lead changes during the quarter.
Delaware State outscored the Lady Hawks 12-4 to lead 33-28 heading into halftime.
Maryland Eastern used a 20-6 run, highlighted by a two three-pointers from Ra'Jean Martin to take a 24-21 lead with 5:24 left in the second quarter. Martin finished the game with 16 points.
The Lady Hornets started the game on a 15-4 run, Lanayjha Ashe, Yazmin Batch and Shonnyvelle Regalado each made a three-pointer during their scoring spurt.
Delaware State shot 26-of-56 (46.4%) from the field, including 7-of-15 (46.7%) on three-point attempts.
Lanayjha Ashe led DSU with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists. “I was just doing everything I can to help my team win, I just wanted to contribute the best way I could. Adjusting to playing point guard has helped my court vision, I believe in the extra pass now, I don't have to take every shot now, If I find an open teammate I (distribute the ball to them) Lanayjha Ashe said after the game.”
Senior forward NaJai Pollard was honored before the game, as she became the school's All-time points leader last weekend. Pollard scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on the night. “Tonight, was a really special night, but I tried not to get so clouded by that.” said Pollard. “We need to win I love to win, we all love to win, so that was my mentality just do what I got to do to help my team win.”
Maryland Eastern Shore made just 21-of-62 (33.9%) on field goal attempts and just 6-of-24 (25.0%) from beyond-the-arc.
“I tell the girls all the time it's all about defense. If we defend and rebound we get a chance to win games. Coach Dave Caputo stated. “They (Maryland Eastern Shore) only had four points through like the first seven minutes of the game. We (spend) 80% of our practice on defense... These kids are competing if you watch our practice you'd think we're in first place, you saw that today against one of the top teams in the league, so I think when we play some 'D' rebound and make some shots we can upset some teams and you saw that today.”
Up next for the Lady Hornets is a game at Coppin State on Feb. 25. Tip-off starts at 5:30 pm.
