Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

HARRISONBURG, Va. - The University of Delaware women’s basketball team took the lead seven minutes into action and never looked back as UD went on to upend George Mason University, 58-41, in the first round of the 2010 Virginia 529 College Savings Plan Colonial Athletic Association Tournament hosted by James Madison University at the JMU Convocation Center on Thursday afternoon.

Delaware (20-10 overall) who twice defeated George Mason (10-20 overall) in the regular season secured a steady lead at the end of the first half and pressured the Patriots to lead by as many as 25 with eight minutes remaining in the game. Today’s victory awarded Delaware its eighth 20-win season in the past 11 years under veteran head coach Tina Martin.

The Patriots led for the first seven minutes of action, but Delaware pulled ahead to outscore GMU, 26-12 over the latter 13 minutes of the first frame to lead the Patriots at the half for the first time in three meetings this season, 34-23. Six of the nine Blue Hens to see action in the first half tallied points for UD as sophomore guard Kayla Miller led the Hens with eight and junior guard Tesia Harris and freshman forward/guard Elena Delle Donne each added seven. George Mason’s freshman guard/forward Amber Easter had recorded a game-high 10 points by intermission.

After slashing the Delaware advantage to nine, UD tallied six consecutive to lead by 15 at 15:41. Delaware continued its dominance to take a steady 20-plus point lead for the majority of the remaining minutes. As UD subbed in the majority of its bench, GMU was able to tally the games’ final five points and soften the deficit to 17 when the final buzzer rang.

Named the 2010 CAA Player and Rookie of the Year at the annual women’s basketball banquet last night, Delle Donne drained a game-high 16 points in just 25 minutes of action. Harris (at right) added 13 and Miller eight, while Parker scored seven and led Delaware with a team-high six boards.

Easter was atop the Mason statistics with 14 points and seven boards, while junior guard Brittany Poindexter added 12 and six, respectively, in addition to her game-high four steals.

George Mason opened the game with three Easter layups, broken up only by a pair of Danielle Parker free throws to put Delaware on the board. An exchange of baskets gave the Patriots an 8-4 advantage at 15:07.

The exchange continued as freshman guard Jaquetta May and Miller tallied Blue Hen baskets but it was sophomore guard Jocelyn Bailey’s drive in for a right-handed layup that put UD ahead for the first time of the contest, 12-11, at 12:38.

Delaware continued to dominate en route to scoring nine unanswered on a Parker jumper from the elbow and a Miller three-pointer before Mason broke its scoring silence at 10:34.

Delle Donne tallied her first point of the tournament at 9:11 before Mason recorded a pair of buckets to make it a two-point, 19-17 game. Parker and Delle Donne then tipped off another UD run with field goals and Miller and Harris drained treys during the Hens’ 14-2 run making it a 14-point game at 3:20.

Freshman forward Janaa Pickard swished a pair of free throws at the three-minute mark before recording a jumper to bring the game within 10, but Delle Donne closed out scoring on the half as she hit the front-end of a one-and-one to secure an 11-point Delaware lead at the half, 34-23.

George Mason’s Poindexter opened scoring in the second stint before Harris tallied a pair of buckets backed by a couple of Delle Donne free throws to take a commanding 15-point lead at 15:42.

Mason hit two at the charity stripe but Delaware responded with points from Delle Donne and May to extend UD’s double-digit advantage before Easter claimed her first points of the second for the Green and Gold.

The third Blue Hen to score from beyond the arc, Delle Donne secured her first and only of the day at 11:38 before hitting a long jumper to instate a 20-point Delaware lead. Bailey extended it to 22 but Mason reversed it with a banked in Angelee LaTouche basket. Senior forward Ariene Jenkins and Parker then combined for three from the foul line before Harris hit another from the field to solidify a 56-31 lead.

Poindexter capitalized on a three-point play and Easter made a steal and went right for a layup to cut the deficit to 20 at 6:50.

The teams later swapped buckets but GMU would close out all scoring with a free throw and jumper to bring the game within 17.

Delaware shot a solid 43.8 percent from the field while GMU hit just 34.7 percent of its shots. Delaware also outdid the Patriots on the boards, 37-28.

“You look at our team and some people forget, because we have some outstanding young talent, that they are still young,” said Martin. “I knew they were really hyped up yesterday. I knew they’d be nervous. We have a number of players experiencing this tournament for the very first time. I knew they’d have jitters. They played through it and got relaxed and really started to execute.

“Take the last two [Drexel] games and forget them. This is a whole new season. Tomorrow we face the defending champions in the tournament. It’s a clean slate. Defense will be key for us,” shared Martin regarding her thoughts on facing Drexel in tomorrow’s quarterfinal game.

Delaware will face No. 4 Drexel University in the quarterfinals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Drexel has twice upset UD in overtime this season, one of which turned into a double-overtime battle, as the Dragons won the two games by a combined five points.

AGATE:

Delaware...............34.....24.........58
George Mason.......23.....18.........41

Delaware (20-10)
Parker 2-2 3-4 7, Riddick 0-2 0-0 0, Delle Donne 6-16 3-5 16, Carra 0-4 0-0 0, Harris 6-12 0-0 13, Bailey 2-3 2-2 6, May 2-4 2-3 6, McLean 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 3-4 0-0 8, Jenkins 0-1 2-2 2, Gibson 0-0 0-2 0. Totals: 21-48 12-18 58.

George Mason (10-20)
Easter 7-17 0-1 14, LaTouche 1-2 0-0 2, Poindexter 5-11 2-5 12, Saunders 0-3 0-0 0, Braxton 1-7 0-0 2, Pickard 1-4 3-4 5, Hobbs 0-2 0-0 0, Eley 2-3 2-2 6. Totals: 17-49 7-12 41.

Halftime: Delaware 34, George Mason 23; Three-Point Field Goals: DEL 4-11 (Miller - 2), GMU 0-8; Rebounds: DEL - 37 (Parker, 6), GMU - 28 (Easter, 7); Assists: DEL - 7 (Delle Donne, 2), GMU - 6 (Poindexter/Saunders, 2); Fouled Out: None; Fouls: DEL - 16, GMU - 18; Attendance: 2,076.