Boxscore
Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- Sophomore guard Vanessa Kabongo (at right) exploded for a career-high 25 points and also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds as the University of Delaware snapped a six-game losing streak and won its first Colonial Athletic Association game of the season with an easy 70-53 women's basketball victory over George Mason Sunday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Sophomore guard Tesia Harris added 13 points and seven rebounds, junior guard Corinthia Benison chipped in with 11 points and added five rebounds, four assists, and five steals, and Jocelyn Bailey came off the bench to contribute nine points as the Blue Hens (9-9, 1-6 CAA) jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the opening minutes and cruised to the 17-point victory.

George Mason (2-16, 0-7 CAA), which got 19 points and seven rebounds from Brittany Poindexter, lost its eight straight game and fell to 1-9 on the road this season under first-year head coach Jeri Porter. Rachel Robinson added 12 points and Eugenia Broadus contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Patriots committed 22 turnovers, hit just 38.5 percent of its shots from the field (20 of 52) and missed on all nine of its attempts from beyond the three-point line.

"Today was a very impressive win, and we needed it in a big way," said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, whose team downed the Patriots for the ninth time in the last 10 meeting. "If Vanessa and Corinthia can keep playing the way they are right now and Tesia can catch fire after knocking down some shots today, then I think we're back in business."

The Hens, who scored 22 points off 22 George Mason turnovers and shot 46.7 percent from the field (14 of 30) in the opening half, won for the first time since a 66-60 victory over Loyola-Marymount to capture the LMC Tournament Dec. 29 in Los Angeles. Delaware also snapped a three-game home losing streak and posted its second highest win margin of the season.

Kabongo, a 5-10 guard from Toronto, Canada and the team’s second leading scorer at 10.6 points per game, was impressive from the outset as she scored 16 of her points in the first half to lead the Hens to a 38-25 lead at the break. She knocked down 8 of 13 shots from the field for the game and also hit 9 of 11 free throws and collected three steals in just 28 minutes of action.

Delaware made a statement early as the Hens jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes with Kabongo and Harris combining for nine of those points. George Mason missed its first four shots from the field and turned the ball over three times before a jumper by Robinson at the 16:09 finally put them on the board.

The Hens led by at least seven points the rest of the half, going up by as much as 17 points at 27-10 on a free throw by Eva Riddick with 6:23 left and headed into intermission up 38-25.

George Mason pulled to within nine points at 40-31 on a jumper by Robinson 2:16 into the second half, but never seriously threatened again as Bailey followed with a three-point play to push the lead back to double figures where it stayed the remainder of the game.

Delaware took its biggest lead of the game at 21 twice in the second half, increasing the lead to 67-46 on a three-pointer by Harris with 2:21 left and to 68-47 on a Harris free throw at the 1:41 mark.