In the first meeting between the Hawkins sisters in college, Tianna got the better of Tierra. Maryland built a 20-point lead in the first 10 minutes and cruised to a 108-33 victory on Thursday night at Comcast Center. The 75-point margin of victory was the largest in program history. The Terrapins, who sent Delaware State (2-7) to its seventh straight loss, matched their best start to a season since 2007-08 when they also began 10-0.
“The matchup with Tianna and her sister Tierra [was] tremendous to see,” Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said. “Not surprised [at how they battled]. They’ve been battling together since they’ve been in the womb. Just a fun experience to be able to bring her sister back home and for them to have that experience.”
Among the crowd of 2,351 was a vocal contingent of Hawkins supporters who showed their divided loyalties by wearing custom T-shirts with each player’s picture and her school colors on each half of the shirt. For the first 20 minutes, they sat behind the Terrapins’ bench. At halftime, they moved behind the Lady Hornets’ bench.
“We’ve both been waiting for this moment since the schedules were released,” Tianna said.
Unless you noticed the resemblance between the two young women, you would have never guessed they were related. There were no affectionate greetings, and Tianna, the older by minutes and taller of the twins, showed no mercy on her sister. At one point in the second half, she leveled Tierra, sending her to the floor as she scored over her.
Tianna hounded Tierra on the defensive end, as well, holding her scoreless until nearly four minutes had expired in the second half. Tierra missed her first nine shots and didn’t make a field goal until 14 minutes 16 seconds remained in the game. She scored seven points on 3-of-17 shooting, but led the team with six rebounds.
“When I came on the court, I thought I wasn’t nervous, but I just was nervous,” Tierra said. “This is something new to me.”
Asked if she took it as a point of pride that she held her sister scoreless for so long, Tianna smiled broadly and said, “You could say that.”
“I should know her best. We’re twins. We’ve played against each other plenty of times before,” Tianna said. “I think going into the game, I just didn’t focus on it. It was just like I was outside playing one-on-one with her. I didn’t let the fact that she’s my sister get me. I felt that I should play her like anyone else.”
Tianna finished with 13 points and was one rebound shy of her sixth double-double this season. She was one of eight Terrapins to score in double figures. Laurin Mincy led Maryland with 15 points. Lynetta Kizer was the only one of nine Terrapins to play who did not score in double figures. Because she missed a class, Kizer was one of the last substitutes off the bench and played just 18 minutes.
Delaware State had six shot-clock violations in the first 20 minutes. Maryland made as many field goals in the first half as the Lady Hornets took. The Terrapins went 24 for 36 from the floor, while Delaware State made just five of its 24 attempts.
No players scored in double figures for Delaware State, which shot just 19.2 percent. Maryland’s reserves outscored the entire Lady Hornets team, 44-33.
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