DELLE DONNE, DELAWARE OUTLAST DREXEL IN OVERTIME THRILLER, 67-61
HARRISONBURG, Va. (March 12,
2010) - Fifth-seeded Delaware took an extra stanza to advance to the semifinals
for the first time since 2007 with a 67-61 win over No. 4 Drexel, the CAA defending champions, on Friday at
the 2010 Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA Women's Basketball Championship.
The Blue Hens were led by
CAA Player and Rookie of the Year Elena Delle Donne (Wilmington, Del.) as she
poured in a game-high 30 points and helped UD overcome a five-point deficit in
OT. Delle Donne and Danielle Parker (Phoenix, Md.) each grabbed a game-high
nine rebounds, while senior Tesia Harris (Dix Hills, N.Y.) chipped in 13 points. The Hens shot 38 percent (23-of-61) for the
game and nearly 71 percent (17-of-24) from the charity stripe.
Senior Gabriela Marginean
(Cluj-Napoca, Romania) led the Dragons with 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting,
while junior Jamina Rosseel (Leper, Belgium) and sophomore Tyler Hale
(Baltimore, Md.) tallied 12 and 11, respectively. The Dragons shot 34 percent
(21-of-61) from the floor and were just under 85 percent (11-of-13) from the
line.
Delaware (21-10) advances
to tomorrow's first semifinal matchup against top-seed Old Dominion at Noon, while
Drexel drops to 17-13 with the defeat.
The game was played in
typical Delaware/Drexel fashion with the ending coming in overtime. The first two meetings this season between the
Dragons and the Blue Hens were decided in overtime, with the Dragons coming out
on the winning side in both games by a total of five points.
The first half was a back
and forth contest, that saw the lead change nine different times and three
ties.
Both squads came out
firing, with the game tied at 9-9 inside the first four and a half minutes.
The teams combined to shoot 8-for-13 prior to the first media timeout. Delaware and
Drexel then cooled off over the next eight minutes, only making two buckets
each. Drexel held a slim 17-15 lead.
Delaware started to find
its rhythm, going on a 10-3 run, capped off by a Jaquetta May (Wilmington,
Del.) layup with 3:34 remaining in the first half, to give the Hens its largest
lead of the half at 25-20. UD took a 29-26 lead into the locker room.
The Hens opened the second
frame with an 8-3 run, including four Delle Donne free throws, to give Delaware
a 37-29 lead with 17:04 remaining in regulation. Teams traded baskets, but a
Delle Donne running jumper with 12:40 remaining in the second gave UD its
largest lead of the game, 43-32.
With under six minutes
remaining, Delaware led 51-40, but Marginean guided the Dragons back, scoring
seven-straight points for the Dragons to complete a 9-0 run, cutting the lead
to 51-49 with 2:18 to go.
Down 54-51, Hale hit the
layup with 54.8 to go for the Dragons, and Harris returned the bucket on the
other end with a layup in transition to give the Blue Hens back the three-point
lead with 46.2 remaining.
On the following possession, sophomore
Kamile Nacickaite (Siauliai, Lithuania) drained the game-tying trey from the
left corner with 32.1 seconds left, to erase the 11-point deficit. Neither
team could score in the closing moments, to send the game to overtime with the
score knotted at 56 apiece.
In the extra period,
Drexel regained the lead for the first time since 7:01 in the first when
Rosseel drained three free throws with 4:46 to go. Less than 20 seconds
later, Hale stole the ball and took it to the other end for the easy lay-in and
a 61-56 lead.
That would be the final
point Drexel would score and Delle Donne guided UD down the stretch. After
nailing a long-range jumper with 1:32 to go, she tied it on a pair of free
throws with 1:05 remaining.
After a Rosseel missed
three, UD's junior Eva Riddick (Rochester, N.Y.) was fouled by Marginean going
for the ball. Riddick missed both attempts, but Delle Donne grabbed the
offensive rebound and hit the layup to give UD a 63-61 lead with 23 seconds
to play.
On the ensuing possession
Delle Donne blocked Marginean's shot that would have tied the game and Parker
was fouled. After she hit both free throws, Nacickaite's three pointer fell no
good and Delle Donne sealed the win with two free throws.