Boxscore
Photos by Chris Permar

NEWARK, Del. -- Freshman sensation Elena Delle Donne (at right) tied the all-time University of Delaware single game scoring mark with 39 points and Tesia Harris (bottom left) drained all six of her three-point attempts and finished with 23 points as the Blue Hens broke open a close game in the final minutes and cruised to an 85-72 women’s basketball victory over Buffalo Tuesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Delle Donne, a 6-5 guard/forward who is a candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year Award in her first collegiate season, was virtually unstoppable as she knocked down 15 of 23 shots from the field, drained four three pointers, and also added team-highs of nine rebounds and four assists to lead the Blue Hens (7-3) to their fifth straight victory overall and their sixth straight win at the BCC dating back to last season.

The Hens’ leading scorer (23.4 ppg) and rebounder (8.7 rpg) entering the game, Delle Donne tied the 29-year old school record for most points in a game set by Lori Howard against Temple on Jan. 27, 1981 and broke the Bob Carpenter Center (opened in 1992-93) single game record of 34 set by Maine’s Cindy Blodgett in 1995-96 and by Delaware’s Danielle Leyfert vs. Northeastern in 1997-98.

Delle Donne already holds the overall building record for points by all players when she scored 50 points as a high school star at Ursuline Academy in the 2006 state title game.

Ironically, current Buffalo head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald, now in her fifth season with the Bulls, was the head coach at Temple when Howard scored her 39 points in 1981 against the Owls.

Buffalo (2-8) rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit and pulled to within a single point with seven minutes left but couldn’t pull ahead and lost for the eighth time in its last nine games.

Junior forward Jessica Fortman led the Bulls with 25 points while freshman Abby Dowd added 10 points and five assists and junior Kourtney Brown added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds. Brown was held to nearly half of her team-leading 17.2 point per game average.

While Delle Donne was dominating inside, Harris was handling things from the outside for the Hens. She scored a season-high 23 points as she connected on 7 of 11 shots from the field and drained all six of her three-point attempts. She tied the UD single game record for most three-pointers in a game set four other times and equalled the single game percentage mark held by Alena Koshansky, who hit on all six of her long-range attempts vs. George Mason on Dec. 4, 2005.

Delaware’s 11 three-pointers as a team tied the school record set vs. UNC Wilmington on Feb. 15, 2007 and vs. Princeton on Nov. 23, 1999. The 85 points by the Hens were a season-high and most since an 85-66 win over Georgia State on Feb. 4, 2007.

"I thought we played very well,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, whose team was playing for the first time since Dec. 13 after taking a break for final exams. “Kayla [Miller] definitely gave us energy -- we really pushed the ball in the first half. In the second, we let them crawl back into it. We needed to look for a good high-percentage shot and we needed to bring the energy. I'm very happy with the win given everything that we've been through... getting Kayla eligible, injuries, finals and whatnot. I think tying records is great and I congratulate those kids, but the bottom line is that we got the win tonight."

Miller, a teammate of Delle Donne’s at Ursuline, played her first game for the Blue Hens after sitting out a full year after transferring from George Washington. The sophomore point guard scored nine points and dished out four assists in 36 minutes of action in her UD debut.

Delaware jumped out to a quick 18-4 lead in the first six minutes of action and led by as much as 23 points in the first half before settling for a 44-28 lead at intermission.

Buffalo came out strong in the second half, connecting on seven of its first eight shots from the field and eventually pulling to within a single point at 63-62 on a three-pointer by Nicki Hopkins that capped a 13-4 run with 7:10 left to play. The Bulls finished the second half hitting 16 of 26 field goal attempts.

The Hens regained the momentum as Harris connected on two free throws and Delle Donne added consecutive layups for some breathing room, but Buffalo rallied again and cut the lead to 71-67 on a layup by Brown with 4:19 left.

But it was all Delaware after that. Delle Donne started a game-ending 14-5 run with two free throws and a layup to push the lead back to double digits and the Hens never looked back.

Delaware will take another break for the holidays and will return to action Dec. 30 at home against Massachusetts for a 7 p.m. start.