Memorial Hall on Saturday night, improving to 1-1 on the season. For the second straight game the Lady Hornets fell behind early. The Eagles jumped out to a 12-4 run after hitting three consecutive threes to start the game and capped off the run with and-1 from Tai Pagan.
“I think we are a little nervous right know,” Coach Caputo said about the team's slow start to games. “Tonight, not having Tierra Floyd, hurt a little bit, and we weren't really attacking aggressively in the first half and weren't making shots.”
The Lady Hornets responded after calling timeout. Miajah Bullock knocked down her two free throws to start a DSU run, Janasia Law slithered through the paint on the next possession and finished with a layup off the glass, the following possession Sharajah Collins threw a lob pass to Zoe Holmes for the layup, and Melissa Sam capped off the 8-0 run scoring a layup despite being fouled to tie the game at 12.
Eagles guard Jaeonna Sutton scored a layup in transition just as time expired to give Post University a 14-12 lead after the first quarter of play.
Lanayjha Ashe grabbed a defensive rebound, after an errant layup attempt by Post and went coast to coast for a layup in transition to tie the game at 14. Next possession Ashe scored on a turnaround jumper from 14 feet out, giving the Lady Hornets a brief 16-14 lead with 8:22 left in the second.
After a 7-1 run by Post University, Sharajah Collins secured a defensive rebound and sped up the court for a layup in transition to cut the deficit to just one point with 1:01 remaining in the half.
Collins finished the game with 10 points, three assists and two steals.
However, the Lady Hornets trailed by three after two quarters of play, with the score at 24-21 heading into halftime.
Miajah Bullock hit a three from the right corner to tie the game at 24 on the Lady Hornets first possession of the second half. The game was tied again at 27 apiece after Ashe knocked down a jumper with 7:39 left in the quarter. Collins gave DSU the lead at 30-28 after knocking down a pull up jumper with 6:08 remaining in the third. On the following possession Freshman Naomi Shorts grabbed a defensive rebound and threw a full court pass to Miajah Bullock for the fast break layup.
DSU outscored Post 22-6 in fast break points, "I went to a smaller more athletic lineup in the second half and it kind of wore them down. We used our speed and moved the ball better" said Caputo after the game.
On the next possession Shorts hit a three from the right wing, to take a 35-28 lead. The lead extended to nine after another jumper from Ashe, the senior finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Miajah Bullock hit an open three and converted and a three-point play on back to back possessions to cap off a 15-0 run that spanned over 3:23 (three minutes-and 23 seconds) of game play.
The Lady Hornets outscored the Eagles 22-8 in the third quarter and led 43-32 heading into the fourth.
Bullock finished with a game high 15 points (11 in the third quarter). “Coach Dave (Caputo) told us to get to the rim, don't settle for three-pointers unless your wide open, said Bullock” and as far as me that's my mentality I'm a scorer.”
DSU outscored Post University 24-9 in the fourth quarter. Freshman Alexis Moragne scored all seven of her points in the final quarter. The Lady Hornets led by as many as 28 points with 1:31 left in the game.
Delaware State shot 24-of-52 from the field (46.2%) including 6-of-14 (42.9%) on three pointers.
Post University shot just 14-of-54 on field goal attempts (25.9%) and just 4-of-18 (22.2%) from beyond-the-arc.
The Lady Hornets forced 21 turnovers and scored 26 points off turnovers. “We're pretty aggressive we practice active hands and feet technique, guarding the ball, (cutting off) angles and how to guard screens. It's a lot of work” Coach Caputo explained. “I think we have pretty good speed here, so that is something (forcing turnovers) that we are doing pretty well.
Up next for Delaware State is a drive-up Route 1 to face in-state foe, the University of Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center. Tip-off starts at 7:00 p.m.
