PENSACOLA, Fla. – The UWF women's basketball team held Delta State to 25 percent shooting in a 51-40 victory at the UWF Field House on Blue-Out Night Thursday.
 
UWF (12-5, 12-3 Gulf South) extended its winning streak to seven games and held DSU to its third-lowest scoring output of the season. The Lady Statesmen scored just 39 against the Argonauts in the first meeting back in November. The 25 percent shooting night was the second-lowest of the year for DSU, following a 23 percent performance against UWF as well.
 
Haylee Luttrell led the UWF offense with 12 points, while Mariah Taylor added nine points on three 3-pointers and five assists, and Zoe Piller had nine points and eight rebounds. Jaclyn Jarnot pulled down 17 boards to go along with eight points and four assists.
 
UWF shot just 34 percent but made 4-of-7 from outside in the second quarter to create enough separation to keep DSU's hopes of a comeback at slim.
 
"We had some players not feeling well but kudos to our team for grinding it out tonight," UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton said. "We struggled to score some easier shots early but we stuck with it. And I thought the big key defensively was to sprinkle in a little zone defense so it kept them from driving and forced them to take more perimeter shots."
 
UWF opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run to extend the lead to double digits. Luttrell and Taylor got things started with back-to-back 3-pointers before Jaden Langford made a pair of free throws and a layup to give the Argos a 21-11 lead with 5:10 left in the half. The teams played fairly even the rest of the way as UWF took as 31-19 cushion into the locker room.
 
In the third, the Lady Statesmen pulled within eight before Luttrell made a driving layup and a corner three to stretch the margin back to a comfortable 38-29 entering the fourth quarter.
 
Alanna Smith was the leading scorer for DSU (7-12, 6-9) as she came off the bench to score 12 points. The Lady Statesmen starters only accounted for 19 points, with 10 of those coming from Camryn Davis.
 
UWF will continue its 3-game homestand on Saturday when it plays host to Mississippi College (4-14, 3-12). Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. and the game will be UWF's recognition of National Girls and Women In Sports Day, with a free youth clinic beginning at 11:30 a.m.