A 16-point lead quickly dwindled in the fourth quarter, but Delaware was able to hold on for a 73-67 CAA women’s basketball victory over Towson on Sunday afternoon.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Blue Hens (6-3 CAA, 12-8 overall).

The Tigers outscored the Hens, 28-19, in the fourth quarter, but Delaware received huge free throws from juniors Kiersten West and Sadé Chatman in the final seven seconds to seal the win.

“Any win on the road is huge in this league,” said Blue Hen coach Tina Martin. “We lost our composure in the fourth quarter and abandoned our game plan. In the end, we did what we needed to do.”

Free throws were a crucial statistic for UD as the Blue Hens went 34-of-40 from the foul line.

West finished with a career-high 16 points, including six free throws and two three-pointers, in just 13 minutes of action. Junior Makeda Nicholas and sophomore Nicole Enabosi added 14 points and nine rebounds apiece.

Delaware State transfer Raven Bankston registered a game-high 31 points for the Tigers (4-5 CAA, 11-9).

MEN, Delaware 66, James Madison 61: It took some clutch free throw shooting by the Blue Hens down the stretch and two costly JMU miscues in the final 50 seconds before Delaware pulled out the CAA wiwn on Saturday night.

Delaware (9-14, 2-8 CAA), which snapped a two-game losing streak, got a balanced effort with four scorers in double figures. The Hens also knocked down 12 of 14 shots foul shots in the second half, including 7 of 8 in the final 1:09.

Freshman guard Ryan Daly scored 16 points, hit all six of his free throws down the stretch, and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Eric Carter netted a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds, senior guard Devonne Pinkard added 12 points off the bench, and sophomore guard Darian Bryant chipped in with 11 points as the Hens improved to 7-4 at home this season.

“We could never break it open, but when we fell behind by one, we really executed and got into a good flow on the offensive end,” said Blue Hen coach Martin Ingelsby. “Devonne (Pinkard) stepped up and hit some big shots. He can be a big-time asset offensively. Eric (Carter) knows how we want to play, and he made it hard for us to take him out of the game tonight.”

Ingelsby went with a first-time starting lineup of Daly, Bryant, Carter, freshman Jacob Cushing, and seldom-used senior Curtis McRoy. The starts were the first of the year for Cushing and McRoy.

The Dukes had defeated the Hens four straight times.

College track and field

Wesley shines at Navy: In a field of Division I opponents, the Wesley College men’s and women’s track & field teams posted good performances Saturday at the Wesley Brown Invitational, hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy.

The Wolverine men had 14 top-10 finishes while 13 women placed in the top-10.

Jasmine Brown led the Wolverine women with four top-10 finishes. Brown finished second in the high jump (1.70m), seventh in the long jump (5.17m), eighth in the triple jump (10.46m) and ninth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.46).

Greg Taylor led the Wolverine men with a second-place time in the 60-meter dash. Taylor finished the 60 in 6.95 seconds, .02 seconds shy of the first-place time. Roland Attoh-Okine tallied a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in at 8.25 seconds.