Photo courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Freshman Elena Delle Donne recorded her fifth double-double of the season to lead the University of Delaware women’s basketball team to its first Colonial Athletic Association victory with a 53-44 win over George Mason University at the Patriot Center on Thursday evening.

Delle Donne (at right) tallied 25 points and 11 boards to lead Delaware (9-4, 1-1 CAA) past George Mason (7-6, 0-2 CAA) for its 11th win out of their last 12 meetings. The Hens trailed 27-20 at the half but outscored the Patriots 33-17 in the second stint to hand the hosts their first home loss of the 2009-10 campaign.

Delaware led the game by as many as six points early in the first, but GMU outscored the Blue Hens, 22-9, over the latter 14 minutes of the half, including eight second-chance points, to take a strong 27-20 lead at intermission.

Despite Mason recording four points in the first 48 seconds of the second frame, Delaware held the Patriots to just 13 points over the next 19 minutes, and scored 33 of its own, to collect its first victory of the season after trailing at the break.

Mason was first on the board just 19 seconds in, but Delaware quickly responded to take the lead and was successful in keeping the advantage for over six minutes. The Hens were aided by seven early Delle Donne points but GMU responded with eight unanswered to put the Patriots ahead, 13-11, at 12:03. The Mason run was extended to 11-0 as junior guard Brittany Eley drained a three-pointer, but Delle Donne connected on a three of her own off an assist from sophomore guard Kayla Miller to end the Hens’ scoring drought.

GMU held the Hens to three points in 11 minutes before Delle Donne, a Naismith National Player of the Year candidate, hit the back-end of a pair of free throws awarded following a technical foul charged to junior guard Brittany Poindexter. Sophomore guard Jocelyn Bailey then scored on a left-handed layup off a Delle Donne feed to bring UD within three.

The Patriots extended their lead with a jumper at 3:43, but Miller pulled it back to 22-20 when she drove left for two points in the paint. A downtown three and a pair of free throws down the stretch led the Patriots to a 27-20 halftime score in Delaware’s first Thursday action of the season.

Mason opened the second frame in commanding fashion with a pair of field goals before freshman forward Danielle Parker got the Hens on the board. Junior guard Tesia Harris got her first points of the contest and Delle Donne followed to bring the score to 31-26 on the six-point Blue Hen run.

A Bailey free throw made it a 7-0 streak, before Mason junior forward Angelee LaTouche scored to end it. Delaware continuted on to sink seven of the next nine points and bring the game within one.

Delaware went ahead on a Parker layup following a media timeout but Mason was quick to answer with a jumper by Poindexter to regain the advantage. Hens freshman guard Lauren Carra drove inside for a layup at 9:35 to force a GMU timeout. The teams again exchanged baskets before two scoreless minutes ran off the clock.

Harris connected on her second straight basket at 7:08 before Delle Donne capitalized upon a pair of free throws to take a 44-39 lead at 5:08. Delle Donne was next to score, again with two from the charity stripe. Freshman forward Amber Easter drained both her shots from the foul line to score Mason’s first points since the 9:20 mark.

Riddick used a dish from Miller to hit a jumper in the paint at 2:49 and UD went on to get another couple from Delle Donne to take a nine-point lead, the Hens’ largest advantage of the game.

GMU, who got itself into foul trouble early in the game, sent the Hens to the free throw line four times in the final 50 seconds allowing the Hens to secure a solid 53-44 road victory.

“They were a very physical team,” said veteran head coach Tina Martin. “We need to expect physicality and need to be able to hold our own and then some.

“In the second half we attacked well, we did a lot of things better. We created some openings and got some good looks -- we really tightened it up. We had a number of players step up. I was really happy with the defensive effort. We kept in front of them and boxed out and followed the game plan to get the win,” concluded Martin.

George Mason committed 20 turnovers to the Hens’ 15 and connected on just 18-56 field goals. Delaware hit 18-48 from the floor for a shooting percentage of 37.5.

Delaware will next travel to Northeastern on Sunday, Jan. 10 to take on the Huskies at 2 p.m.

AGATE:

Delaware...............20.....33........53
George Mason.......27.....17........44

Delaware (9-4, 1-1 CAA)
Delle Donne 7-11 9-11 25, Parker 3-4 2-4 8, Bailey 2-6 1-2 5, Miller 1-4 0-2 2, Harris 3-12 3-4 9, Riddick 1-2 0-1 2, Carra 1-8 0-0 2, Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Benison 0-1 0-0 0; Totals: 18-48 15-24 53.

George Mason (7-6, 0-2 CAA)
Easter 3-7 3-4 9, LaTouche 2-4 0-0 4, Poindexter 3-11 0-0 6, Saunders 2-7 0-0 5, Eley 3-13 0-0 7, Duckett 1-1 0-1 2, Pickard 0-2 0-0 0, Hobbs 0-1 0-0 0, Braxton 4-10 2-3 11; Totals: 18-56 5-8 44.

Halftime: Delaware 20, GMU 27; Three-Point Field Goals: DEL 2-8 (Delle Donne, 2), GMU 3-11 (Saunders, Eley, Braxton, 1); Rebounds: DEL - 36 (Delle Donne, 11), GMU - 39 (LaTouche, 14); Assists: DEL - 9 (Miller, 5), GMU - 10 (Saunders, 4); Fouled Out: Eley - GMU; Fouls: DEL - 13, GMU - 19; Attendance: 790.