DOVER, Del. – Despite trailing by as many as 19 on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter, the Delaware State women’s basketball team (1-6) battled back ferociously  to outscore the William & Mary Tribe (5-1) 20-7 in the final seven minutes of Tuesday evening’s contest, but it was not enough as the Lady Hornets fell 65-59 at home.

Trailing 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, DSU was limited to 20 points over the next 20 minutes, including going 3-for-8 (.375) from the field and committing nine turnovers in the second quarter.  William & Mary, meanwhile, tallied 35 points during this stretch, headlined by a 19-point (9-of-19) effort in the third quarter.

Delaware State’s strong finish began by ripping off nine unanswered points, thanks to guard Mikah Aldridge scoring seven of 11 points of the night during this stretch.  Forward/center Nikkei Blackburn managed to chip in by scoring Delaware State’s next four points to make it a 60-52 contest at the 3:15 mark. After a Jenna Green trey to put W&M back up by 11 with 2:51 remaining, guard N’Kayah Kersey answered by scoring the game’s next seven points, capped off by draining a pair at the line to bring DSU within four with 22 seconds left. 

The Hornets actually had a chance to make it a one-possession game with a steal by guard Bri Justice with 15 seconds to play.  Unfortunately, a bad pass by the sophomore out of Richmond, Va. right after she came away with the ball not only resulted in a Ali Engelhart steal for William & Mary, but it was DSU’s costly 24th turnover of the night.             

Four DSU players scored in double figures, which is the most of any game this season for the Lady Hornets.  Leading the way was guard/forward NaJai Pollard tallying her first-career double-double with 14 points (6-of-10) and 10 boards, to go along with a game-high three blocks.  Blackburn also turned her best performance of this season, registering her first double-double of the season with 10 points (4-of-6) and a team-high 11 rebounds.

For the Tribe, guard Marlena Tremba – the team’s leading scorer (15.6 ppg) coming into Tuesday’s contest – finished with a game-high 21 points (7-of-16), which also featured a 4-for-10 (.400) effort from long distance. 

Delaware State will look to bounce on the road this Saturday against Fordham.