Photo Courtesy of Chris Permar

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. -- University of Delaware freshman sensation Elena Delle Donne (at right) erupted for 35 points Sunday against Georgia State, and the Blue Hens needed every one of them.

The Hens pulled out a 68-65 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball victory over the Panthers before an enthusiastic, pink-clad, Valentine’s Day crowd, but the heart-stopping outcome wasn't decided until the final moments thanks to a torrid GSU rally.

Delle Donne, the Blue Hens' 6-5 freshman guard who took over the national scoring lead Sunday at 25.8 points per game, connected on 15 of 22 shots from the field while also adding seven rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Delaware (16-8, 8-5 CAA) to its third win in the last four outings.

Danielle Parker (bottom left) came off the bench to add 10 points for Delaware and Tesia Harris added nine points and eight rebounds and hit a free throw with less than two seconds left to clinch the win.

Georgia State (13-11, 4-9 CAA), which lost its second straight and fell for the fourth time in the last five games, had just four players score but each finished in double figures led by Danyiell McKeller's 23 points and eight rebounds.

Shay Rawls added 17 points and 10 rebounds while Angelique Burtts contributed 10 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, Traci Haltiwanger chipped in with 15 points, and Crystal Johnson dished out seven assists. McKeller’s 31 field goal attempts set a BCC record, breaking the mark of 26 established by William & Mary’s Taysha Pye just 10 days ago.

The game, the 1,000th in school history since the program started in 1971-72, was played before a crowd of 3,606, the second largest crowd ever for a UD women's basketball single game at the Bob Carpenter Center. The game was designated as a Women's Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone game to promote breast cancer awareness.

Delaware shot a torrid 61.9 percent from the field in the second half as the Hens converted 13 of 21 attempts, including four of six three-pointers. The Hens finished the game shooting 53.8 percent (28 of 52) from the field to reach the .500 mark for the third time this season. Georgia State enjoyed a 40-35 advantage on the boards, but shot just 27 of 71 (38 percent) from the field.

“Elena really came through for us, like she’s done for all our games,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, who was presented with a gameball in a pre-game ceremony for winning her 250th career game earlier this season. “[Danielle] Parker’s defense was exceptional, [Tesia] Harris and [Lauren] Carra hit some big shots for us, Kayla did a nice job in the second hal. Overall today was a very nice team effort. We got stops when we needed to. This team keeps coming back and coming back and coming back. We have got to be able to step up and make some big plays and I think our team did that today. They fought hard and responded.”

Delaware led the entire second half, going up by as much as nine points twice at 51-42 with 13:24 left to play and at 61-52 with 7:11 left on layup by Harris. But the big lead wouldn’t last as the Panthers rallied.

A three-point play by McKeller followed by two free throws from Burtts cut the Delaware lead to 61-57 with 5:37 left before a jumper by Parker pushed the lead back to six. Georgia State cut the lead down to four again on a McKeller jumper, but Parker converted two free throws to put the UD lead back to 65-59 with 1:02 remaining.

Georgia State’s Haltiwanger singlehandedly led the Panther rally in the final minute as she connected on two three-pointers in a span of 37 seconds, the second with 12 seconds let that cut the Blue Hen lead to 67-65.

The Panthers had the chance to tie it up in the final seconds as they gained possession after Delle Donne was tied up by Haltiwanger with nine seconds left with the arrow in Georgia State’s favor. But the Panthers wasted the opportunity when Rawls missed a layup with three seconds left and Harris rebounded for the Hens and was fouled.

After missing the first free throw, Harris iced the win with a make on the second attempt for the three-point lead. The game was finally decided when Delle Donne intercepted a halfcourt pass as the buzzer sounded.

Delle Donne scored 22 points in the first half to help stake the Hens to a 34-30 halftime lead. Delaware built a seven point lead in the first half when a jumper by Parker gave the Hens a 22-15 lead with 6:21 left. But as they did all day, the Panthers rallied and tied the game at 24-24 on a layup by Rawls with 4:08 left.

A three-pointer by Delle Donne gave the Hens a 32-24 lead with 1:23 left, but Georgia State scored three field goals in the final minute to cut the UD lead to four at the break.