EMMITSBURG, Md. – In what was the first of a season-long seven-game road trip, the Delaware State women’s basketball team (1-4) ran out of gas down the stretch Wednesday evening to fall 73-64 to the Mount St. Mary’s Mounts (1-4).
The first half featured forward Amber Bogard dominating down low with 14 points (6-of-8) to lead all players, as her final bucket of the period gave DSU a 23-22 lead at the 4:21 mark.
Unfortunately for Delaware State, that would be its last basket of the half.
Mount St. Mary’s, meanwhile, closed the stanza on a 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead into the locker room, headlined by Kathleen Lelanger-Finn and Kayla Bates draining back-to-back treys.
The Lady Hornets, on the other hand, battled back to tie the game up at 40, after guard Raven Bankston canned one of her career-high five 3-pointers with just over 13 minutes to play. But, the Mounts answered with a 10-2 run of their own, capped off by a Jessica Harris 3-pointer to make it a 50-42 ball game.
Not wavered, Delaware State stormed back by ripping off 10 unanswered points, concluding with back-to-back Rav. Bankston 3-pointers and Bogard scoring her only bucket of the second half to give the Lady Hornets a 52-50 lead with 8:27 remaining.
The theme second half runs continued, this time with the Mounts answering with a 9-2 outburst to make it a 59-54 contest with 6:01 to play, led by Jenn Carney scoring seven points.
As the half progress, the Lady Hornets crawled within three after guard Raine Bankston came away with a steal and finished on the other end with 1:27 left.
On the ensuing possession, after Bogard recorded her second block of the evening, Lelanger-Finn found Sarafina Arthur-Williams for an uncontested layup off the inbounds. Down the stretch, Carney drained six free throws to finish her perfect night at the line (12-for-12), whereas Arthur-Williams hit a pair with 23 seconds left to seal the Mounts’ first win of the season in their home opener.
At game’s end, Rav. Bankston (9-of-20) and Carney (4-of-11) both bounced back from a slow starting first half to finish with a game-high 23 points. Arthur-Williams, meanwhile, recorded a double-double with 18 points (7-of-14) and a game-high 13 rebounds, in addition to three steals and two blocks.
For DSU, Bogard was held in check in the second half as she finished 16 points (7-of-10), four rebounds and a team-high two blocks.
The Lady Hornets will head to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Thanksgiving holiday to take part in the Lady Rebel Round-Up, beginning Saturday (3 p.m.) against host UNLV. DSU will play the winner or loser of South Dakota State and Northern Illinois the following day at 3 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.