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In a game that was considerably closer than the final score indicated, the D.C. Divas women's football team shook off a lackluster defensive effort in the first half and scored four touchdowns in the second en route to a 49-21 victory against the New York Nemesis.

The Independent Women's Football League game drew about 600 spectators Saturday night at the Prince George's Sports Learning Complex in Landover.

The Divas (4-2) could not have asked for a better start as Tara Stephenson returned the opening kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown. New York (2-5) brought only 24 players on the six-hour bus ride from Albany, but the Nemesis arrived poised to post an upset, only to lose the war of attrition in the second half.

"We thought we were going to be up by a lot at halftime," said Divas' running back Okiima Pickett, referring to the 21-21 halftime score. "I guess we just took them lightly."

New York responded to Stephenson's kickoff return by marching 80 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Val Halesworth to Sandra Nesbitt with 9 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first quarter. Running back Sierra Speed had gained 24 yards on two sweeps during the drive, and the Divas bit on a play-action fake, allowing Nesbitt to hit Halesworth for the touchdown pass.

Stephenson set up the next Divas' score by returning the ensuing kickoff to the Nemesis 24-yard line. From there, Kenyetta Grigsby carried four times and scored on a 7-yard run. A Kathryn Hemlock extra point gave the Divas a brief 14-7 lead.

New York responded with a methodical 13-play, 65-yard drive that lasted more than seven minutes, and ended when Halesworth scored on a 1-yard run on the second play of the second quarter. The Nemesis quickly added another score, as Speed returned a Hemlock punt 34 yards to the Divas' 6-yard line and LaKea Palmer scored on the first play to make it 21-14 with 12 minutes left in the second quarter.

The Divas countered by going 65 yards in 10 plays. Pickett carried nine times for 65 yards and scored on a 2-yard run to tie the game at 21-21 with 8:25 remaining in the first half.

New York spent nearly the rest of the half in Divas' territory. Moving to the Divas' 10-yard line, but the Nemesis were pushed backward by a motion penalty and then Halesworth was sacked on fourth down.

The Nemesis took the second half kickoff and marched into Divas' territory, but the D.C. defense rose to the occasion on fourth-and-one and stuffed fullback Ashleigh Bepko for no gain. That defensive stand proved to be the turning point of the contest as the Divas ground game began to forge gaping holes in the sagging, tiring Nemesis defense.

The Divas needed only five plays to go 54 yards, with Hemlock connecting with Wilkinson on a 25-yard pass to give the hosts a lead they would not relinquish. After a short Halesworth punt, the Divas took over at the Nemesis 37-yard line and Grigsby carried four times to cover that ground and scored on a 3-yard run to lift the hosts to a 35-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Divas needed only eight plays to go 57 yards, getting 26 on a pass from Hemlock to Tiffany Matthews, the next 24 on the ground from Matthews and the last 10 on a pass from Hemlock to Pickett. After denying the Nemesis a late scoring chance, the Divas added an unexpected final score. Grigsby carried twice for 86 yards to complete a three-play, 92-yard drive with slightly more than a minute remaining. Grigbsy rumbled the last 35 yards through a battered, tired Nemesis defense.

"We had to make some adjustments in our blocking at halftime," Grigsby said. "We found some success in the second half. The blocking was really good. Now we have to get set for Philadelphia and then we have to get ready to go to Boston [on June 5]."

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.