NEWARK, DE -- Courtney Irving (at right) scored a game-high 14 points and pulled six rebounds and Tyresa Smith posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the University of Delaware women’s basketball team cruised to its ninth straight victory with a 66-42 win over Fordham Friday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Delaware (10-1) won its ninth straight game and extended its regular season non-league home winning streak to 17 with the victory. The Hens, who have started the season out 9-1 three times in the last four seasons, are now off to their best start since the 1983-84 squad opened the season 15-1. The Hens have also won 17 of their last 18 home games since last season.

Kristina Gineitis and Farrah Ferguson each came off the bench to score nine points for the Blue Hens while Alena Koshansky dished out five assists to lead a balanced effort. The Hens shot 42.4 percent from the field (28 of 66), held a commanding 43-22 advantage on the boards, and forced the Rams into 23 turnovers.

Annie Zopf led Fordham (2-8) with 12 points while Lisa Carrol added 10 points. The Rams shot just 39.5 percent from the field (17 of 43) but did hit 8 of 20 three-pointers, including four by Zopf. Fordham did not attempt a free throw the entire game.

Fordham battled the Blue Hens early on and held a 10-8 lead with 12:06 left in the stanza after a jumper by Carrol. But Irving answered with a layup to tie the game at 10-10, Gineitis drained a three-pointer a minute later, and Ferguson scored two baskets as part of a 12-2 run and the Hens were on their way.

Delaware outscored Fordham 21-8 over the final 10 minutes of the first half on their way to a 34-18 halftime lead as Irving scored 10 of her points during the stanza. The Hens left little doubt of the outcome in the second half as they outscored the Rams 16-2 over the first seven minutes to take a commanding 50-20 lead with 13:37 remaining. Smith scored eight points during the run, including the basket with 13:37 left that upped the lead to 30. Fordham missed four of its first five shots of the second half and turned the ball over six times before a three-pointer by Zopf with 13:32 remaining snapped the drought.

Delaware built its biggest lead at 33 points at 59-26 on two free throws by Irving with 8:43 left. Fordham never got closer than the final score the rest of the way, scoring 12 of its final 14 points on three-pointers.

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