Hornets Drop Home Finale To Hampton, 49-41
Dover, Del. - The Delaware State University women's basketball team hung tough with MEAC leader Hampton for much of the game, but was no match for the defending league champ in a 49-41 loss in the Lady Hornets' home finale in Memorial Hall.
DSU fell for the sixth time in the last seven games to drop to 9-17 overall and 6-7 in the MEAC. The Pirates won their 13th straight game to improve to 22-5 and 13-0 in league play.
Keiara Avant had game highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Pirates. Hampton's Nicole Hamilton tallied 15 points, five assists and five steals in 40 minutes.
Tierra Hawkins led three Delaware State players in double figures with 12 points. Hawkins has reached double figures in scoring in 22 of the Lady Hornets' 26 games. Tasia Bristow and Kianna D'Oliveira had 11 points each for DSU. D'Oliveira also had two blocks to tie the Lady's Hornets' all-time record of 109, first set by Thea Littlepage (2006-08).
Delaware State never led in the contest, but only trailed 14-11 after a basket by Jade Washington with 9:26 left in the first half.
The Lady Hornets were down 23-13 after a Hampton basket with 3:30 left in the opening period, but scored the last four points of the half to pull to within 23-17 at the break.
Hampton outscored DSU 14-4 in the first five minutes of the second half, and opened up a 37-21 lead on a jumper by Alyssa Bennett with 15:56 left to play.
Delaware State trailed 43-25 before going on a spurt. The Lady Hornets scored 11 of the next 13 points, and pulled to within 45-36 after two free throws by D'Oliveira with 5:29 left in the game.
For the complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com or www.hamptonpirates.com.
Lady Bulldogs Win Fourth Straight
Tallahassee, Fla.-The SC State women's basketball team turned a three-point halftime deficit into a 17 point victory as they defeated Florida A&M, 63-46, in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest at the Al Lawson Center. The win, the fourth straight and the fifth in six outings for the Lady Bulldogs, avenged an earlier season loss to the Lady Rattlers.
Tiara Knotts scored a game-high 19 points to lead SC State. Trinese Fox scored 13 points and pulled in seven rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in the MEAC.
SC State scored the first two points of the contest then Florida A&M (FAMU) rattled off seven straight points to take the 7-2 lead. The Lady Rattlers would increase its lead to seven, 14-7, with 9:52 remaining in the half before the Lady Bulldogs used a 7-0 run over the next minute to knot the score at 14-14, with 8:52 remaining. FAMU would increase its lead to four, 24-20 with just over one minute remaining in the half and enjoyed the three-point lead, 26-23, heading into intermission.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half with a 14-0 run over the first eight-plus minutes to take the 40-26 lead with at the 12:44 mark of the second half. FAMU scored just four points over the first 10:13 of the half to fall behind 45-30, with 9:43 remaining in the contest. Jasmine Grice hit two-throws at the 7:14 mark that sparked an 8-2 run to pull the Lady Rattlers within nine, 42-51, with 4:23 remaining in the contest. FAMU managed to pull within nine twice more but could not get any closer. The Lady Bulldogs closed the game on an 8-0 en route to the 17 point (63-46) victory.
Cabriel Duren contributed 10 points and Fannie Goodwin came off the bench to record a double-double, 10 points with a game-high 11 rebounds in the victory. Ashley Clark pulled in eight rebounds with seven assists for the Lady Bulldogs in the victory.
Florida A&M was led by Jasmine Grice and Kimberly Sparkman who scored 15 points each. Patrice Collie pulled in nine rebounds and Jamie Foreman contributed six points with seven rebounds for the Lady Rattlers, who fell to 10-16 overall and 7-6 in the MEAC.
For the complete story, visit www.scsuathletics.com or www.famuathletics.com.
UMES Falls In Defensive Struggle To Howard, 40-35
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The Lady Hawks nearly pulled off another MEAC comeback, getting within one possession late, but were defeated by Howard 40-35 in a defensive battle. UMES falls to 7-17 overall and 3-10 in-conference, while Howard goes to 17-10 this season and 11-4 in the MEAC.
Before the game, the Lady Hawks honored the careers of Sha-Kiyla Finney and Karona Roach with a pregame ceremony.
UMES started the game by holding Howard without a field goal for the first seven minutes, with Finney contributing the first basket and an assist as the team led 6-1.
Howard countered with Cheyenne Curley-Payne, who scored six points in a row on an 8-0 Lady Bison run to give the visitors a 9-6 lead through the first 13 minutes.
Each side shut the other down as the two teams scores just four combined field goals the rest of the half as Howard led 16-11 at the break.
Saadia Doyle made the first two baskets in the second half. Despite some free throws by Ashleigh Claybrooks and Finney, Howard hit a couple of threes to build its lead to 12, going up 27-15 with 12:36 to play.
After some back and forth play, the UMES seniors stepped up on their final home game. Finney went on a personal 5-0 run in less than a minute to get the Lady Hawks to be down by just five 35-30 with 4:45 left. Following an Adelle Walton three, Roach hit a pair of free throws then converted a jumper and one, making the score 38-35 Howard with 2:36 left to play.
But despite a chance to tie the game at the end, UMES could not close the gap. A pair of Doyle free throws with 19 seconds left sealed the game in favor of the Lady Bison 40-35.
UMES's two fourth-year players led the team in scoring in their last home game as Lady Hawks: Finney finished with 11 points, including going a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line, and Roach had a near double double with nine points and seven boards. Claybrooks had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.
For the Lady Bison, Curley-Payne concluded the contest with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Walton scored 12 points off the bench on 4-5 three-point shooting.
For the copmlete story, visit www.umeshawks.com or www.howard-bison.com.