Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware women’s basketball team took control of the game in the second half after going into intermission tied 27-27 and defeated the Ivy League’s Columbia 62-48 in the season opener Sunday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Sophomore guard Tesia Harris (at right) scored 13 of Delaware’s first 17 points to start the game and finished with 18 to lead the Hens on five of 12 shooting from the field and six of seven from the free throw line. Harris was also aggressive on the boards, coming one rebound short of a double-double with nine.

Neither team shot well on the day as Delaware held a slight advantage shooting 30.5 percent from the field to Columbia’s 26.7 percent. Both teams turned the ball over a lot as well - the Lions with 19 and the Blue Hens with 23. Columbia turned those 23 turnovers into 19 points and held a one point edge in the points off turnover category, 19-18.

According to Head Coach Tina Martin, who improved to 9-4 in season openers at Delaware, sloppy play was a result of nerves for her young Blue Hen team that started four sophomores and a junior. After a 27-27 tie going into intermission, Delaware outscored Columbia 35-21 in the second half.

“I think we played very nervous in the first half. I knew they’d be nervous, but we got our feet under us as the game progressed. It was what you would expect from a first game. We’ll take the win and we’ll run with it,” the 13th-year head coach said.

Martin got solid production from junior guard Corinthia Benison and sophomore forward Ariene Jenkins. Benison shot an impressive 11-12 from the free throw line and made two shots from the field to score 15 points. She also led the team with four assists on the day. Meanwhile, Jenkins led the team with 10 rebounds, five of them offensive, scored six points and blocked two shots.

Two of Martin’s freshmen, forwards Jocelyn Bailey and Danielle Parker, saw a lot of playing time and made significant contributions as well. Bailey pitched in six points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes of action and Parker posted six points, six rebounds and a team-leading four steals.

This was the first ever meeting between the two schools. With the win, Delaware improved to 26-14 against the Ivy League all-time. In season openers, Delaware is now 6-3 this decade.

Martin used 15 different starting line-ups last year. The line-up of Eva Riddick, Ariene Jenkins, Vanessa Kabongo, Corinthia Benison and Tesia Harris was the first time these five made up the starting lineup.