By: Jasmine Saunders, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: DSU Athletic Media Relations/Rodney Adams

The Lady Hornets of Delaware State University (3-19) held an eight point halftime lead against rival North Carolina A&T (9-13) on Wednesday night, but faltered in the second half to lose 68-60.

Hornet sophomore NaJai Pollard led DSU with strong inside play, especially in the opening half, and totaled a game-high 12 rebounds by the final buzzer.

Head Coach Barbara Burgess cites a loss of composure and nerves as the reasons for the loss. “I’m playing a lot of freshmen [there’s] just a lot of inexperienced playing,” she said. “It’s just going to take experience getting over the hump,” she continued.

Pollard said the many turnovers in the game and lack of scoring was what led to the loss. “We just need other people to step up to score,” she said.

Guard Mikah Aldridge was a high scorer with 17 points for the Hornets with Pollard chipping  in with 14. Aggies’ guard Kaia Green scored 13 points for the night, making five out of her 10 attempts.

As for the next game, Coach Burgess suggested the team is “playing a whole lot better” and that the Lady Hornets have acquired some good habits in games that will add to their defense. “We [have] latched on to some good things like the 1-2-2 [full and half courts, and] trapping,” she said. “That’s been pretty successful for us the last two games.”

“We just got to come out [just like how we did] for our first three home games,” Pollard said in reference to scoring.

The Lady Hornets will be at Bethune-Cookman University on February 4th. They’ll be coming back home on the 20th.