DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — In the young team's first road test of the year, Eastern University Women's Basketball ground out a 51-43 win at Delaware Valley University. The Eagles (3-0) led wire-to-wire and held the host Aggies (0-2) to 16 percent shooting in the first half to claim the non-league win. It is the program's first 3-0 start since 2018.
While the Eagles led by five at the quarter break and built that lead to 15 as they contested, they took advantage of transition chances and points in the paint.
Ny Hairston scored on a run-out to put Eastern up 26-11 with three minutes left in the half. The Aggies (0-2) closed the gap to 26-16 at half.
At the break, Hairston led all scorers with nine, and
Aniyah Williams had five points and six rebounds. The Eagles shot only two 3-pointers in the first half and made 11-of-26 from the floor. Hairston hit her first 3-pointer and had her second attempt from deep blocked at the buzzer.
After a first half with extended periods between score changes, the early part of the third quarter felt like a track meet. Both teams scored ten points in the first five minutes of the second half. As the game slowed down in the second half of the period, the Eagles were the only team to score. The lead stretched to 40-26 on a
Laila Alexander lay-in with less than a minute to play.
Up 14 headed to the final period, the Eagles just needed to take care of the ball, play good defense, and execute just a little on offense to put the game away. The Eagles did the final two things but showed some inexperience with some live-ball turnovers that enabled the hosts to claw back to within striking distance. The Aggies closed the gap to six with 3:13 on the clock. Twenty seconds later,
Camryn Rodriguez hit an open 12-footer on a good pass from Adams to restore the three-possession lead.
The Eagles made their free throws to close out the game.
Williams and Hairston each finished with 11 points and Eastern's bench outscored its counterpart from Delaware Valley, 17-to-2.
Madeline Wylie grabbed 10 rebounds, and Eastern won the battle on the glass, 43-32. Every Eastern starter had at least four rebounds and Hairston grabbed six.
Eastern will play at Swarthmore College next Wednesday.
