After having a somewhat of a tough time with Northern Illinois last Sunday, the Iowa State women’s basketball team will return to Hilton Coliseum today at 2 p.m. to take on the Delaware State Hornets.
Everything to know about the Delaware State Hornets
The 2016-17 season has so far not been kind the Hornets.
Delaware State enters Sunday’s matchup against Iowa State with a 1-7 record, with its lone win coming against Wagner (61-49). In their seven losses, the Hornets have lost by an average of 22 points per game.
Last year, Delaware State had an uninspiring season while adjusting to new head coach, Barbara Burgess. The Hornets only won nine games and lost in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference. Although the Hornets don’t seem to possess an intimidating threat, they do have some exceptional players on their roster.
Delaware State’s go-to player is Najai Pollard.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore forward is coming off a very solid performance against NJIT. Pollard grabbed 10 rebounds and swatted five shots while shooting 6-of-10 from the field for 15 points against the Highlanders. That performance helped her earn MEAC Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Week. This was the second weekly honor Pollard has been awarded this year. She earned player of the week on Nov. 21 after tallying 65 points, 25 rebounds and six blocks in two games.
On the season, Pollard is the conference’s second leading scorer in points per game, at 18.8, and is the leader in rebounds per game, at 9.9. She’s also second in the MEAC with a 55.4 shooting percentage and fourth in blocks, at 2.1 per contest.
They are not a good shooting team
Iowa State shoots a respectable 45 percent from the field and 37.4 from behind the 3-point line. That is good for No. 45 and No. 35 in the nation. The Hornets are the exact opposite.
For the season, Delaware State is shooting 34.4 percent from the field and 20.4 from behind the arc. That ranks the Hornets at No. 305 and No. 341 respectively in the country. Quick fun fact: there are 344 teams in the nation. So Delaware State doesn’t exactly set fire to the nets.
They commit personal fouls…a lot
If you are heading to the game on Sunday, you might get tired of the sound a whistle makes. That is because Delaware State is one of the worst fouling teams in the country.
The Hornets are averaging 20.5 personal fouls per game. That is tied for No. 299 in the nation.
Delaware State’s fouling trouble should benefit Iowa State, as the Cyclones are the best free throw shooting squad in the country. The cardinal and gold is shooting 84.4 percent from the charity stripe.
They can’t defend the basket
Entering this contest, Iowa State possesses the No. 10 scoring offense in the nation, as it averages 84.4 points per game. Looking at Delaware State’s scoring defense, the Cyclones should easily get to their scoring average.
The Hornets are allowing an average of 73.5 points per game through nine contests. That is No. 314 in the NCAA. They have also allowed two 90 point games this year. The Cyclones should have an easy time scoring against the red and blue.
They turn the ball over too
While the Hornets can’t defend their basket, they don’t do themselves any favors by how much they turnover the ball. Delaware State is giving the ball away an average of 20.3 times per game. That is No. 309 in the country.
This game against Delaware State should be an outing in which Iowa State fine tunes its whole game. Run and practice some sets on offense and defense that it can utilize once league play starts. This contest should also allow players who don’t see the bulk of the time like Nia Washington, Adriana Camber and Claire Ricketts to get quality minutes and get them comfortable before Big 12 play.
