University of Delaware Athletics
Tina Martin Earns 300th Win as 12th-Ranked Blue Hens Cruise Past Georgia State, 94-56, For 12th Consecutive Victory
2/12/2012 8:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA, Ga. – University of Delaware women's basketball head coach Tina Martin (at right) earned her 300th career win on Sunday as the 12th-ranked Blue Hens cruised past Georgia State, 94-56, at the GSU Sports Arena to extend their winning streak to 12 games.
Junior All-American Elena Delle Donne again led the way for Delaware by pouring in 31 points, while Lauren Carra continued her impressive play by contributing 19. Danielle Parker was the third Blue Hen in double figures with 11 points, while she tied Delle Donne with a team-high eight rebounds.
Delaware's 94 points are the most ever under Martin and mark the Blue Hens' highest total since a 94-90 overtime win over Bucknell on Feb. 21, 1989 and the most points in a regulation game since a 95-47 Delaware victory over Loyola (Md.) on Dec. 28, 1986.
The Hens improved to 22-1 overall and remained atop the CAA standings with a perfect 13-0 mark.
Martin, currently in her 16th season leading the Blue Hens, improved to 300-176 during her career as she also notched her 145th Colonial Athletic Association victory, ranking second in the all-time conference record book and first among active CAA coaches.
She is the winningest basketball coach in UD history, men or women, and is the second Blue Hen coach in the last week to reach the 300-win mark after men's lacrosse head Bob Shillinglaw reached the 300-win total last week.
“We've got great team chemistry and we're a team through and through," said Martin, who has led the Hens to two NCAA Tournament appearances and six Women's NIT Tournament appearances during her tenure. "It's been a lot of work by a lot of people. A team is not just one person and a program is not just one coach. It means so much to get that number, but like anything else in sports, you move on. You can smile about it, but records and numbers fall. This is a great group of kids. I'm blessed to be in this position where I can hopefully be a positive influence on these young people and have a great staff.”
Delaware won it with balance and shared the ball well with a season-high 22 assists as 10 Blue Hens scored at least three points or more, including 23 points off the bench.
Junior guard Trumae Lucas dished out a season-high nine assists while Parker contributed a career-high six assists.
Georgia State, which ranks in the bottom 10 percent of Division I women's basketball teams averaging 20.8 turnovers per game, struggled to take care of the ball as the Panthers committed 25 turnovers on the day.
The Hens capitalized by grabbing a season-high 19 steals, including a career-high six steals from Parker.
Leading the way for Georgia State was Kayla Nolan with nine points and Harris Chan with nine rebounds. The Panthers, who shot 22 of 61 (36.1 percent) from the field, fell short of reaching double figures but had 10 players scoring two or more points apiece as GSU fell to 7-16 on the season and 1-12 in CAA play.
The Hens, one of just four teams nationally with only one or no losses, held a 42-27 rebounding advantage over the Panthers and went 33-60 (55.0 percent) from the floor.
Delle Donne, the nation's leading scorer with 28 points per game, surpassed the 30-point mark for the ninth time this season as she also went 2 of 2 from beyond the arc and 9 of 10 from the charity stripe. She did all her damage in just 25 minutes of playing time.
Delaware came out hot with another quick start, taking an early 8-0 lead just over two minutes into the first half as Carra exploded with back-to-back three pointers. The Hens made 8 of their first 11 shots to build a 20-6 lead in just six and a half minutes of play.
Georgia State rallied back with a 9-1 run to bring the score to 21-15 at the 10-minute mark, but that was the closest the Panthers would get for the rest of the game.
Delaware went on a 13-0 run from the 4:25 mark to give the Hens their largest first half lead of 24 points, setting the halftime score at 47-23.
The second half started off on the right track for Georgia State as the Panthers were the first to put points on the board with two free throws from Cody Paulk, but the Hens quickly answered with a 10-0 run featuring an old-fashioned three-point play by Carra at the 17:37 mark to up their lead to 57-25.
The Hens led by as much as 40 with 3:33 to play and did not trail en route to Martin's 300-win achievement.
“For us to be part of this milestone is an honor,” said Carra, who went 3 of 6 from deep and now ranks fifth in Blue Hen history with 107 career three-pointers made. “It comes at a great time during an amazing season. We've put so much work in this year and Coach Martin is at the head of it all. She's had so many winning seasons and we're just trying to keep it going this year.”
Continuing a three-game road stretch, the Hens look for a similar outcome as they renew their rivalry with CAA foe Hofstra on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m in Hempstead, N.Y. Delaware knocked off the Pride 84-66 in Newark earlier this season.
