WASHINGTON, DC -- Junior forward Chrissy Fisher (at right), a first-year transfer playing in only her second game at the University of Delaware, scored a game-high 24 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and collected five steals to lead the Blue Hens to an easy 64-38 non-league women’s basketball victory over host American University Sunday afternoon at Bender Arena.

The Blue Hens improved to 2-0 with their second one-sided victory of the season after opening the campaign with a 71-44 win over Massachusetts Friday night. Delaware, which went 25-6 a year ago and captured the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title, has now outscored its opponents by an average of 26.5 points per game. The Hens are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

American (0-2), a member of the Patriot League, got team-highs of 12 points and nine rebounds from forward Abby Lipskis but no other Eagle player scored in double figures. Delaware held a commanding 42-31 advantage on the boards and took advantage of 23 turnovers. American shot just 22.6 percent from the field (12 of 53) for the game and
connected on just 3 of 17 three-point attempts.

Fisher, a 6-0 forward from Rumson, NJ who averaged 7.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in leading the University of Maryland to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2003-04, came up big for the Hens in just her second game with the Blue Hens. After being held to just two points and two rebounds in her Blue Hen debut vs. Massachusetts, Fisher hit on 11 of 18 shots from the field, hit one three-pointer, added 11 rebounds, and also posted five steals to lead the way.

Junior guard Tyresa Smith added 11 points and six rebounds and senior center Arek Deng came off the bench to pull down a career-high eight rebounds for the Blue Hens. American’s 38 points were the lowest allowed by the Blue Hens since a 54-27 win over Loyola Dec. 14, 2003.

“It’s always great to get a road win,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, who improved to 168-96 in her 10th season at the helm of the Blue Hens. “We are happy to be 2-0. Our team played some great basketball today.”

Delaware held American scoreless for the first five minutes of the game to take a 7-2 lead. The Eagles missed their first seven shots from the field before Sahar Nusseibeh scored with 15:11 left. However, American battled back and cut the lead to one-point several times over the next eight minutes, the last time with 7:47 left when the Eagles cut the lead
to 15-14.

But the Blue Hens responded with a 13-2 run to close out the half and take a 28-16 lead into intermission as American missed it final seven shots from the field and turned the ball over four times.

American shot just 7 of 27 from the field for the half (.259). American pulled to within seven points at 32-25 four minutes into the second half, but the
Hens reeled off 11 of the next 15 points, including three-pointers by Fisher and Koshansky, to go up 44-28 with 10:09 left. American, which hit just 5 of 26 second half shots, never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way with the Hens taking their biggest lead at 64-37 with 32 seconds left to play.

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