Boxscore / Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware led for most of the second half against league-leading Virginia Commonwealth, but the Rams used an 8-0 run to take control with five minutes remaining and survived with a 70-63 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball win over the Blue Hens Sunday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

After a 30-30 halftime tie, the Hens took the lead early in the second half and went up by as much as six points at 46-40 with 12:49 left in the game before the Rams rallied back.

The Hens (11-11, 3-8 CAA), who lost their second straight, got 21 points and five rebounds from Tesia Harris (bottom right) while Corinthia Benison (top right) scored a career-high 18 points and Vanessa Kabongo chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds.

Delaware, trying to avenge a 68-45 loss to VCU back on Jan. 18 in Richmond, Va., was outrebounded by a 39-30 margin to the veteran Rams and was hurt by 21 turnovers, including 13 by Benison.

VCU (19-4, 9-2 CAA), which entered the game in a three-way tie for the CAA lead with James Madison and Drexel, won its fourth straight game and its ninth in the last 10 outings. The Rams used 57 percent shooting in the second half (12 of 21) to offset 21 turnovers.

Four Ram players notched double figure totals in points as La'Tavia Rorie and Quanitra Hollingsworth each scored 15 points, Kita Waller added 14 points before fouling out with three minutes left, and Radoslava Bachvarova contributed 11 points.

Hollingsworth, a pre-season All-CAA selection, pulled eight rebounds, including the 1,000th of her career - a school record. Courtney Hurt also pulled eight rebounds and Jennifer Lane and Rorie also pulled six rebounds each.

"I told the kids that I was proud of them," said Delaware head coach Tina Martin of her post-game address to the team. "But I'm frustrated for them. How we played so well for 36 minutes and fell apart at the four minute mark is beyond me. They played so hard the whole game and we hung tough. Now we've got to look at the film and regroup and get ready for next week."

Delaware fell behind by eight points in the first three minutes but used a 9-1 run over a four-minute span to tie the game at 12-12. VCU regained the lead and later followed with a 9-1 stretch of its own to take another eight-point lead at 23-15 with 7:19 remaining.

Again the Hens rallied and outscored VCU 15-7 the rest of the half and sent the game into halftime tied at 30-30. Harris scored 14 of her 21 points in the opening half to lead the Hens.

Delaware scored five of the first six points of the second half to regain the lead, but VCU rallied back to take a 37-36 advantage with 17:11 remaining. The Hens then scored the next five points, capped by a three-point play by Benison, to take the lead and stayed in front until two free throws by VCU's Hurt knotted the score at 55-55 with 5:56 left.

Rorie and Hollingsworth followed with layups as part of an 8-0 run that put VCU up for good at 59-55. Delaware pulled to within three at 61-58 on a jumper by Benison with 3:24 left but would never get closer as VCU drained seven free throws the rest of the way to preserve the win.

VCU snapped a three-game losing streak to Delaware at the BCC and downed the Hens in Newark for just the second time in eight visits.

The Hens, who played before a season-high crowd of 2,004 fans, will return to action Feb. 11 when they host William & Mary at 7 p.m. at the BCC.