By: Juamarley Miller
On February 29th,the Delaware State women’s basketball team (9-19, 6-9 MEAC) dethroned the five-time defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular season champion Hampton Pirates (13-15, 11-5 MEAC) for the first time since Feb. 9, 2008, 89-81.
The rematch between the two teams led to a combined 53 additional points being scored at the end of the game compared to their last meeting.
“We just really wanted to focus on running our offense and containing them on defense, which was something we didn’t do the first time around,” said head coach Barbara Burgess. “This win did wonders for our confidence going forward because we were struggling lately against some pretty beatable teams.”
As the game tipped off, the Lady Hornets immediately played with intensity, holding Hampton to only a 34-point half.
The Lady Hornets led by 12 going into the second half, shooting 43.3% from the field, while holding Hampton down to 41.7% on their home court.
Not much changed during the second half for the Lady Hornets, as they
expanded their lead to a whopping 18 points.
“Our mindset today was to just go hard and play all four quarters,” said freshman forward, NaJai Pollard. “I just wanted to keep pushing my team because we all wanted to win for Coach Burgess.”
At the end of the game, N’Kayah Kersey, Mikah Aldridge, NaJai Pollard, and Nikkei Blackburn all scored at least 18 points to push the Lady Hornets past the Pirates for good.
The Lady Hornets also out rebounded the Pirates, 54-26, led by Blackburn’s 20 and Pollard’s 14.
This is the second time the Lady Hornets has pulled down 50 or more boards this season.
This victory not only snapped a 15-game slide to the Pirates, but it was its first win at
Hampton since pulling off a 53-51 triumph on Feb. 28, 2005 for the Lady Hornets.
Up next on March 3rd is the tough Coppin State Lady Eagles (12-15 9-6 MEAC) who knocked off the Lady Hornets the last time these two teams met in February.
Nikkei Blackburn
Photo Credit: Dsu Media Relations Department
Categories: Sports