TOWSON, Md. – What turned into a very tight game ended in Towson's favor on Friday night as the TU women's basketball team defeated Delaware at home 76-66.
 
Senior Nukiya Mayo with a season-best 26 points led the Tigers, while LaKaitlin Wright dropped a career high 14 points. Kionna Jeter scored 13 and led the team in rebounds with eight. Q. Murray neared a triple-double night with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
 
With the win, Towson moves to 14-12 on the season and 9-6 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. Heading into Sunday's game against Drexel the Tigers are fourth in the conference standings. The Dragons are in a tie for first place with James Madison.
 
How it Happened

• Towson took an early 6-1 lead at the 6:25 mark. Both teams traded baskets the entire first half and the first quarter was tied three times.
• At the end of one, the Tigers trailed 16-12 with four points from Nukiya Mayo.
• Similar action continued in the second quarter as the Blue Hens fought for the lead. With 6:44 to go in the half, Towson led by two.
• The lead changed four times but the Tigers outscored Delaware 15-11 and the teams entered the locker room tied up 27-27.
• In the first half Mayo led all scorers with 15 points, she shot 6-of-8 from the field in the first 20 minutes. Delaware as a team was shooting 29.4 percent from the field.
• The Blue Hens scored the first bucket of the second half taking a three-point lead and the battle continued.
• Kionna Jeter tied the game 30-30 on a fast-break jumper but Abby Gonzales responded 19 seconds later and it was once again a three-point game.
• Towson started to pull away when 5:14 remained in the third quarter and Mayo took the lead to four. The Tigers took an 11-3 run over the next two minutes and were leading 45-37 with 3:37 on the clock.
• Delaware scored but could not cut much more into the deficit as the home team shot 9-of-16 from the field during the third, including a 6-of-7 from beyond the arc mark. Towson outscored the Blue Hens 25-15, taking a 52-42 lead into the fourth.
• The Tigers climbed to their biggest lead of the game in the final 10 minutes, with a 19-point advantage and 1:49 to go.
• The road team took advantage of two turnovers and scored 12 points in 45 seconds to cut the lead to 10, bridging the gap slightly as Towson would hold on and win.

Beyond the Box

• Senior Nukiya Mayo now has scored 20 or more points in nine games this season. She has recorded 23 games in double-figures.
• Redshirt-junior Kionna Jeter recorded her 25th game of the year in double digits and her 12th outing with at least four steals.
• Point guard Q. Murray scored 10 for her 15th night in double figures and she has now 15 appearances with at least five assists.
• LaKaitlin Wright scored a career-high 14 points and it is her second game this season with 10 or more points. In 18 minutes she scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, had two steals and a block. Wright's number in the +/- was 24 for the night, the highest on the team.
• Towson shot its best field goal percentage of the season with 51.7 percent, only the second time this season the Tigers have shot 50 percent or better.

 
Looking Ahead
Towson hosts Senior Day against Drexel on Sunday at 2 p.m. in SECU Arena.