Martin Gets 267 Career Win in 61-51 Road Victory Over Northeastern, Becomes All-Time Leader at Delaware
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Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
• Boxscore
BOSTON -- Behind a 61-51 victory over Northeastern University on Thursday night, University of Delaware head coach Tina Martin became the winningest coach in the programs history, earning her 267th career win at Solomon Court.
Martin, who is now in her 15th season at the University, won her first game 72-46 on Nov. 22, 1996 against in-state rival Delaware State. This is the second time the Huskies (5-8, 0-2) have been a landmark victory for Martin, who earned her 100th regular season Colonial Athletic Association nearly one year ago, defeating Northeastern 61-53 on January 10, 2010 in Boston.
Martin is the third head coach since the program was added in in the 1971-72 season. The victory surpasses Martin’s predecessor, Joyce Perry, who had a career record of 266-212 (.556) in 18 seasons at the University. Martin’s career record now stands at 267-165 (.617 winning percentage) in just 15 seasons.
Since taking over the program in 1996, Martin has tallied eight seasons with 20 or more wins, including last year’s team, which went 21-12 and earned a bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
After both teams struggled to score the first basket, Delaware’s Lauren Carra put the Hens on the board first with back-to-back layups. The 34th meeting between the two teams was close through out the first half, featuring four lead changes and two ties.
With both squads locked up at 15 points each, the Huskies took a two points lead with 9:14 on the clock. A 12-foot jumper from Jocelyn Bailey pulled the Hens back into a tie.
The teams swapped leads before tying again at 21 all. But Delaware finished off the period with an 8-2 run to hold a 29-23 advantage at the break.
“That’s a great win on the road,” said Martin of her squad’s first conference road victory this season. “These kids are playing hard. Our defense is doing a really nice job. I think rebounding wise, these kids are hungry.”
Opening the second half, the Blue Hens continued to put up points, starting the second half with an 8-0 run, holding the Huskies scoreless over the first four minutes of the period.
Northeastern, which has now dropped 17 straight games to Delaware, pulled to within nine points of the lead, but the Hens opened another run, building their lead to 20 with 5:28 left in the game.
Down but not out, Northeastern battled back to within 10 points over the final four minutes of the game, but the Hens’ lead proved to be too much to over come.
The Hens played the inside game, taking just two shots from beyond the arc, both of which came off of Carra’s hand, with one finding the bottom of the basket.
Carra went seven of 14 from the field and five of seven from the free throw line to finish with 20 points after a 29 point effort in the Hens comeback win over Hofstra on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore Danielle Parker joined Carra in double digits, finishing with 16 points and grabbing a grab-high tying eight rebounds. Bailey also snagged eight boards and posted nine points.
“That whole back line, I put Danielle Parker in charge of it,” said Martin of her 6-2 forward. “I told her that as a sophomore, taking that leadership role would improve trust in the future.”
As a team, Delaware hit nearly 50 percent from the field, hitting 24 of its 55 field goal attempts (43.6 percent). The Hens show why they are one of the top defensive teams in the nation, where they are ranked 19th in field goal percentage on defense, allowing teams to hit just 34.2 percent. The Huskies surpassed the mark, but hit only 39.6 percent from the floor, going 19 of 49.
The Huskies also put two players in double digits, led by Deanna Kerkhof’s 18 points, which included four treys. Kerkhof was joined by Jamie Conroy who recorded 13 points on four of seven shooting.
Delaware held the advantage in rebounds, pulling down 39, including 18 on offense, which lead to 36 second chance points for the Hens.
The Hens continue CAA play when they travel just 45 miles from Newark to face the Dragons of Drexel University on Sunday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. in the Daskalakis Center.
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