WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 - Blue Hens Survive Scare, Defeat George Mason By 4

Blue Hens Survive Scare, Defeat George Mason By 4

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware survived another scare from George Mason Monday afternoon, but the Blue Hens pulled away from a close game once again in the final five minutes and got another big effort from freshman Elena Delle Donne to post a 67-63 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball victory at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Delle Donne, the Blue Hens' 6-5 All-American candidate and the nation's second leading scorer, poured in 26 points and pulled 15 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season to lead Delaware (15-7, 7-4 CAA) to its second straight win and the team's fourth in the last five games. Tesia Harris chipped in with 18 points, Kayla Miller added 10 points, and Jaquetta May contributed a solid all-around effort with nine points, eight rebounds, and four assists for the Hens.

Last place George Mason (8-14, 1-10 CAA), which put a scare into the Hens back in early January before Delaware survived with a 53-44 victory, lost for the sixth straight game and for the 11th time in the last 12 outings. The Patriots, who remained winless on the road this season at 0-10, got 10 points from Amber Easter while Brittany Eley added nine points and Rahneeka Saunders contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Blue Hens, who trailed 33-28 at the half and were down by as much as seven points in the second half, have won only two games this season when trailing at the half and both came against George Mason. Back on Jan. 7 in Fairfax, Va, the Hens trailed 27-20 at the break and were down by as many as 11 points early in the second stanza before taking control over the last 10 minutes of play for the win.

Monday's game was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday but a winter storm that dropped over 24 inches of snow in New Castle County forced the game to be postponed. The game was played at 3:30 p.m.

following the Delaware men's game vs. UNC Wilmington that had been postponed on both Saturday and Sunday.

The victory gave Delaware 15 victories on the season, matching the entire win total of last year when the Blue Hens went 15-15. Monday's victory also improved Delaware's record to 8-2 at home this season.

""We could use a million excuses, but overall I don't think we played well," said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, who has now led 10 of her

14 teams to 15 or more wins. "We weren't focused and I wasn't thrilled with our execution. We still have seven regular season conference games left before the tournament and we've got some work to do. The bottom line is, now we have to prepare ourselves for Thursday at Old Dominion (which defeated Delaware 60-59 on Jan. 3)."

The Hens had to fight back from a seven-point deficit early in the second half to pull out the victory, finally grabbing the lead for good on two free throws by Delle Donne with 4:37 left to break the game's eighth tie at 53-53. George Mason pulled two within two points several times the rest of the way, but a conventional three-point play by Delle Donne with :57 seconds left gave Delaware a 62-57 and the Hens drained five free throws the rest of the way to stay in front.

Mason's Eley knocked down a three-pointer with seven seconds left cut the margin to 66-63, but Delle Donne was fouled on the inbounds play and hit one of two free throws with six seconds remaining to secure the victory.

The Patriots outplayed the Blue Hens throughout the first half, connecting on 14 of 29 shots from the field and taking advantage of 15 Delaware miscues on the way to the 33-28 advantage. The half featured five ties but George Mason went up for good in the stanza as Hobbs hit a three-pointer with 6:25 left to break a 23-23 tie and a jumper by Saunders put Mason up by six at 33-27 in the final minute.

George Mason led by as much as seven points at 37-30 three minutes into the second half, but Delaware fought back and took a 42-41 lead on a Delle Donne layup with 12:51 left. But Mason answered right back on a Hobbs three-pointer and held at least a share of the lead for the next seven minutes before a three-pointer by Delaware's Harris gave UD a

53-51 lead with 5:52 left.

Easter's layup 48 seconds later for Mason tied the game again at 53-53 with 5:04 left, but Delle Donne's two free throws 27 seconds later gave the Hens the lead for good at 55-53 with 4:37 remaining.

AGATE:

GEORGE MASON (8-14, 1-10 CAA)

Easter, 5-8 0-1 10, Poindexter, 3-7 2-3 8, Saunders, 4-10 1-2 9, LaTouche, 2-2 3-3 7, Eley, 4-6 0-0 9, Pickard, 2-5 0-0 4, Hobbs, 2-4 0-0 6, Braxton, 2-6 0-0 6, Robinson, 2-5 0-0 4, Totals, 26-53 6-9 63.

DELAWARE (15-7, 7-4 CAA)

Delle Donne, 9-18 8-9 26, Parker, 1-4 0-1 2, Miller, 3-6 4-6 10, Carra, 0-0 0-0 0, Harris, 6-13 4-9 18, Bailey, 1-3 0-0 2, May, 3-10 3-4 9, Riddick, 0-0 0-0 0, Jenkins, 0-0 0-0 0, Totals, 23-54 19-29 67.

Halftime Score: George Mason 33, Delaware 28; Three-Point Field Goals:

GM - 5-14 (Braxton, 2-6, Hobbs, 2-3, Eley, 1-1, Saunders, 0-2, Pickard, 0-2); D - 2-9 (Harris, 2-5, Delle Donne, 0-2, Miller, 0-2); Rebounds: GM

- 27 (Saunders, 7), D - 40 (Delle Donne, 15); Assists: GM - 14 (Poindexter, 4), D - 9 (May, 4); Total Fouls: GM - 24, D - 16;

Attendance: 4,217.