NEWARK, DE -- The University of Delaware women’s basketball squad suffered its first ever setback to UNC Wilmington at the Bob Carpenter Center since 2003 Thursday night as UNCW shot 56 percent from the field and got a combined 42 points from Greta Luksyte, Sahsha Taylor, and Brittany Blackwell on the way to a 58-50 Colonial Athletic Association victory.

Delaware (2-14, 1-3 CAA), which lost its third straight game and its seventh straight at home, fell to the Seahawks at the BCC for just the second time in seven meetings and for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. UNC Wilmington (10-5, 1-3 CAA), which snapped a three-game losing streak, connected on 20 of 36 shots from the field for the game and overcame a three-point halftime deficit.

Senior guard Kyle DeHaven scored 14 points, dished out four assists, and collected six steals before leaving the game late with a leg injury suffered on a driving layup and sophomore forward Sha’Ron Harrison (at right) added a career-high 14 points while pulling a team-high nine rebounds.

The Hens were hurt by 29.1 percent shooting from the field (16 of 55) and 19 turnovers. Delaware also played most of the game without starting freshman guard Tesia Harris, who injured an ankle midway through the first half.

Luksyte finished with a game-high 15 points, including three three-pointers, while Taylor added 14 points and six rebounds and Blackwell, who didn’t start due to a foot injury, contributed 13 points and team-high nine rebounds.

“This is definitely a step backward for us,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, whose team is the youngest in the CAA with five freshmen and three sophomores. “I’m disappointed in our kids and for our kids. We missed some wide open shots, we rushed, and we turned it over. We are young and we panicked a little.”

Delaware led by as many as seven points in the first half and jumped out to a 29-26 lead at halftime as the Hens forced 17 Seahawk turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

But the lead wouldn’t hold up as UNC Wilmington gained the lead 2:06 into the stanza on a layup by Blackwell and went up by five points at 38-33 three minutes later. Delaware battled back to take the lead at 40-38 on two Harrison free throws with 12:17 left and Corinthia Benison followed with a layup for a four-point lead, but the Seahawks once again responded and took the lead for good as Luksyte, who scored 12 of her 15 points after intermission, nailed two straight three-pointers in a span of just 54 seconds for a 44-42 UNCW advantage.

The Blue Hens kept it close, pulling to within 49-47 with 7:06 left and still trailing by only five at 54-49 with 3:41 remaining, but could never catch up. Candace Walker pushed the UNCW lead to 56-49 on two free throws with 2:25 left and free throws by Taylor and Smith kept the Seahawks in front.

Delaware managed just one field goal in the final seven minutes and hit just 2 of its final 11 field goal attempts over the final 11 minutes.

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