Delle Donne Named CAA Player of the Week Following Record-Setting Week
February 7, 2011
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Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
RICHMOND, Va. -- After missing 11 games with symptoms associated with Lyme disease, University of Delaware sophomore All-American Elena Delle Donne was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of The Week on Monday afternoon.
Delle Donne, a 6-5 preseason Wooden National Player of the Year candidate, led the Blue Hens to a 2-0 week, dropping 42 points, including 24 on Northeastern University Thursday night in the Bob Carpenter Center, her first home game since Nov. 23 against St. Francis (Pa.).
But it was her 16th point of the week that was the most memorable.
At the free throw line with 19:32 on clock in the second half, Delle Donne converted her 1,000th career point, becoming the fastest in Delaware and CAA history to reach the mark.
Reaching the milestone in her 38th career game also landed her in the national record books, where she became the fifth-fastest player to 1,000 and doing it in the second-fewest amount of games. In CAA history, she surpassed James Madison guard Dawn Evans, who needed 55 games to hit the mark.
The Wilmington, Del. native wrapped up the week averaging 21.0 points per game, including 12-of-13 shooting from the free throw line. She set her career mark for rebounds in a game after hauling down 18 against Drexel on Sunday afternoon, including 16 on the defensive glass.
In both games, Delle Donne, who was also named to the preseason Naismith National Player of the Year Watch List, was nearly unstoppable from the field, going over 40.0% in both games. Against the Huskies, she hit eight field goals, including four threes, on nine total attempts. In Sunday’s action, she posted a five-of-12 game.
Delle Donne helped on the defensive end as well, knocking away three opponent shots, including two against Northeastern, while committing just one personal foul the entire 62 minutes she was on the floor this week.. She concluded the week with five assists, handing out two against the Huskies and another three versus the Dragons.
This marks the third time this season and first since Nov. 22 Delle Donne has been tabbed as the league’s Player of the Week, and the 13th time she has earned weekly accolades from the conference.
Delle Donne and the resurgent Blue Hens (13-9, 6-5) head on the road this Thursday when they take on Towson University Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Towson Center.
