MIAMI (Fl.) – The Delaware Valley University women's basketball team was in sunny Miami, Florida at the Hoop MIA D3 Holiday Shootout hosted by Eastern University and opened the tournament on Tuesday afternoon with an 81-56 setback to Eastern Connecticut State University.

The Aggies (1-8) defense forced two turnovers to start the game and freshman Jordan Hyman got a breakaway layup to open the scoring.

The Warriors (6-2) countered with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 10-point, 14-4, lead. DelVal fired right back with a 9-0 run to close the first quarter and make it a 14-13 game going into the second. Four different players scored in the spurt including freshman Shayne Glenn with four points.

Junior Lauren Moretti knotted the game at 16-16 early in the second with a 3-pointer off an assist from Sarah Wills, and after an Eastern Connecticut bucket, she hit from deep again to put the Aggies back on top, 19-18.

Five straight turnovers by DelVal resulted in a 9-0 run for the Warriors and they regained the lead, 27-19, with just over three minutes left in the half. By the time the team's headed to the halftime break, Eastern Connecticut held a 31-22 advantage.

The Aggies shot just 24.2% (8-for-33) from the field and hit 2-of-13 treys compared to 12-of-31 (38.7%) shooting from the field for the Warriors who made 3-of-10 from deep. DelVal did hold a 24-22 advantage on the boards including 10 offensive rebounds.

Eastern Connecticut's lead ballooned to as many as 14, 42-28, halfway through the third quarter and it maintained a 13-point lead going into the fourth, 51-38. That's the closest the Aggies would get the rest of the way as the Warriors won the fourth quarter by outscoring DelVal, 30-18, and cruised to an 81-56 triumph in the opening game of the tournament.  

Eastern Connecticut finished the game shooting 42.2 percent from the field compared to 27.9 percent by the Aggies. Danielle O'Brien led all scorers with 18 points and Lizzy Cretella followed with 17 as three other Warriors also reached double figures including Anna Barry who finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks, and two steals.

Moretti paced DelVal with 13 points and Hyman followed with 11. Wills grabbed a team-high eight boards and added seven points while Glenn finished with seven points and five rebounds. Emily Kutskel came off the bench in her first game back from injury and contributed eight points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in 21 minutes.

The Aggies will be back in action from Miami as they take on Williams College at 2 p.m.