Delle Donne Pours in 34 Points, Gets Solid Support from Parker as Blue Hens Hold Off Villanova for 69-62 Victory
November 16, 2010
Game Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell
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NEWARK, Del. -- Sophomore All-American Elena Delle Donne (top right) put in another big effort, scoring 34 points and pulling 12 rebounds, and the Blue Hens got a big boost from sophomore forward Danielle Parker (bottom left) who scored 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the University of Delaware held off Villanova for a 69-62 non-league women's basketball victory Tuesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
The Hens (2-0), winners of their first two games for the second time in three years, led by as much as 16 early in the second half but had to hold off a barrage of three-pointers by Villanova (1-1) to survive with the seven-point win. Delaware has now knocked off the Big East Wildcats three straight times.
Delle Donne, a pre-season Player of the Year candidate, enjoyed her second straight big effort after knocking down 36 points in Delaware's season-opening 59-44 win over UMBC Friday. This time, though, she got a bigger contribution from her teammates. She connected on 11 of 19 shot from the field and 10 of 11 from the foul line and also knocked down a pair of three-pointers to post her fourth 30-point game in her last four outings and surpassed that 30-point mark for the 10th time in her two-year career.
Parker's 11 rebounds - one shy of her career-high set last year - were part of her second career double-double and helped the Blue Hens hold a commanding 38-24 advantage on the boards as they held of a hot-shooting Villanova squad that converted 10 of 30 three-pointers, including 7 of 16 shooting in the second half.
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Forward Lindsay Kimmel led Villanova with 20 points, including six three-pointers, while Rachel Roberts contributed 16 points and Heather Scanlon came off the bench to contribute nine points. The Wildcats were coming off a season-opening 57-42 win over LaSalle last week.
Delaware took the lead for good midway through the first quarter, using a 16-0 run over a span of over seven minutes to take control. Villanova missed eight straight shots at one point as Delaware turned a three-point deficit into a 14-point lead at 25-11 with 6:49 left in the half. But the Wildcats stormed right back and used a 12-2 run to narrow the game to 27-23 with 3:05 left. Delaware then turned it on the rest of the stanza and took a 34-25 lead into the break as Delle Donne scored 22 of her points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Hens increased that nine-point halftime lead to as much as 16 points at 46-30 after Delle Donne hit three straight free throws at the 15:17 mark of the second half. But once again Villanova hung around the pulled to within five points on a Roberts layup with 9:52 left. That would be the closest the Wildcats would get until the final minutes.
"I told the team that would be one of the key factors in this game," said head coach Tina Martin. "We've got to make them as uncomfortable as possible, and in the first half, I thought a big key was we rushed at them. Sometimes we probably over ran the play, but Villanova was in such a rush to try and go by us, and we used such energy to get out on them, they walked several times. We forced some walks just by rushing them, making them feel uncomfortable, making those kids (Villanova) not feel comfortable at the three-point line."
Delaware moved the lead back to double digits and stayed in front by at least eight points until the final minute when a three-pointer by Kimmel, two free throws from Devon Kane, and another long-range three from Roberts pulled Villanova to within 66-62 with 42 seconds left. But the Hens iced the win from there as Jocelyn Bailey hit two free throws and Delle Donne added one and Villanova could not convert on its it final two possessions.
Both teams were nearly flawless on the foul line as Villanova converted 14 of 15 tries and Delaware was 15 of 18 from the stripe. Both teams committed just 11 turnovers apiece.
Delaware will be looking to start out 3-0 for the first time since 2005-06 this Saturday when the Blue Hens travel to Yale for a 7 p.m. meeting in New Haven, Conn.
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