University of Delaware Athletics
Blue Hens Cruise to Third Straight Win as Defense Shuts Down Rhode Island in 57-40 Victory
12/5/2012 9:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KINGSTON, R.I. -- The University of Delaware cruised to its third straight win Wednesday night as the Blue Hens forced 17 turnovers and held host Rhode Island to 28 percent shooting on the way to a 57-40 non-league win at the Ryan Center and in front of a national audience on ESPN3.
Delaware (4-2), playing for the first time in a week, jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, took a 28-16 advantage into the second half, and stayed in front by at least 14 points the rest of the way.
“I felt tonight that we could push the basketball in transition and attack,” said UD head coach Tina Martin. “I thought we came out flat in our last road game (at Duquesne), but tonight I felt the energy was there and our defense forced turnovers. The identity of this team right now is defense. Our defense is going to create our offense.”
Lauren Carra led the Blue Hens with 16 points while Danielle Parker (at right) added 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season, and Jaquetta May and Akeema Richards chipped in with 10 and nine points respectively.
“It's all about leadership,” remarked Parker. “We have six seniors this year and we're all leaders in our own right. That's really what helps show the freshmen that you're going to get knocked down, but you have to battle every obstacle that gets in your way.”
UD forced URI to take a timeout within the first three minutes of the game as May found Richards under the basket from just over the half court line to go up, 7-0. Rhody came out of the timeout and saw their first points of the game with a three-pointer from Tayra Melendez.
Kayla Miller gave the Blue Hens a 14-point advantage at 21-7 after a traditional three-point play off of a steal and assist from Carra.
UD held the Rams to just four points in the final eight-plus minutes of the first half, including a six-minute scoreless streak.
Delaware saw points from each Blue Hen who played in the first half, with Carra and Parker leading the way with six points each.
The Hens opened the second half with eight straight points to build their lead.
“During halftime, Coach Martin reminded us to play five minutes at a time,” Parker commented. “We take it in increments, which allows us to tackle our goal and do what we have to do. We played team defense tonight and that's what we've needed for so long. We have to play together and when we play defense together, that's when we produce and force turnovers.”
Parker showed her offensive prowess with just over 13-minutes remaining in the game as she stole the ball for a fastbreak layup before putting a spin move on to get the right angle to a layup to give the Hens a 41-20 lead.
Carra gave Delaware their largest advantage of the game with her second three-pointer at 11:54 to go up, 44-22.
Rhody would cut things to 14 with just over five minutes remaining, but UD eventually would go back up by 18 with two layups from May.
Rhode Island (3-6) got 12 points from Emilie Cloutier but no other Ram player scored more than seven points.
The Blue Hens return home to host Princeton this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
