#5 Delaware Advances to Semifinals Over #4 Elon
Vicki Friedman
BOXSCORE | CAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 10, 2016) – Fifth-seeded Delaware rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit, downing No. 4 seed Elon, 57-50, in the 2016 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at The Show Place Arena.
Delaware (16-14) meets top-seeded James Madison (25-5) in Friday’s first semifinal at 1:30 p.m. Elon awaits a potential WNIT bid with an 18-12 record.
“This team has been giving me gray hairs all year and today was no different,” said Delaware Head Coach
Tina Martin. “They also have been fighters all year. This group showed its resiliency, showed its fight today, and we’re going to need that in buckets going against two-time defending champion JMU.”
Against the Phoenix, Delaware scored on 13 of its 15 possessions in the fourth quarter, beating Elon for the first time ever in five games. The Blue Hens also dominated the free-throw line, sinking 14-of-14 in the fourth quarter and 18-of-20 for the game.
Freshman
Nicole Enabosi led Delaware with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting before fouling out with 1:12 remaining. The forward added nine boards. Senior All-CAA Second Team selection
Courtni Green had 13 for the Blue Hens, and
Sade Chatman had 11 points, going 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
“It was very, very, very nerve-wracking
,” Enabosi said when asked about playing in her first conference tournament, noting she relaxed when she saw her friends and family in attendance.
All-CAA First Team selection
Shay Burnett scored 13 with eight rebounds for Elon, and
Lenaira Ruffin added 11 points off the bench.
The teams were tied at 47 with 1:57 remaining when Delaware’s Green drove to the basket and laid it in with time running down on the shot clock. Chatman extended Delaware’s first lead to 51-47 and the Blue Hens never trailed again.
“We once again struggled with shooting woes and that was part of our problem,” said Elon Head Coach
Charlotte Smith, who said her team settled for too many perimeter shots and needed to be more aggressive in the final 20 minutes. “There were times in the second half when we weren’t hungry.”
Delaware trailed by as many as 12 and ended the third quarter down 11, but finally was able to pull even at 43 behind Chatman’s free throws with 4:51 left in the game.
“They were fighting and getting loose balls we weren’t getting,” Burnett said. “They were outhustling us.”
Elon scored the game’s first six points with Delaware missing its first five shots, unable to get on the board until Green’s jumper with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter. Green scored seven of her 13 in the opening quarter, but Elon dominated 18-11, shooting 43.8 percent from the field and forcing six turnovers.
Ruffin’s layup put Elon up 23-11 and after the Blue Hens responded with a 6-0 spurt, they went without a field goal for the final 7:43 of the second quarter. Elon led 29-18 at the break boosted by seven apiece from Burnett and
Jenifer Rhodes.Delaware climbed closer in the third quarter behind an 8-2 spurt but trailed 38-29, unable to find any offensive rhythm against Elon’s size and defense. Elon shot 24 percent in the second half, while Delaware improved to 57 percent. The Blue Hens outscored Elon 28-12 in the fourth quarter.
Looking ahead to the semifinals, JMU and Delaware have dominated the CAA championship the last six years with the Dukes winning the last two and in 2010 and 2011. Delaware won the league championship in 2012 and 2013. The Dukes lead the series 19-13 and have won three straight and nine of the last 11.