University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Standout Elena Delle Donne Named CAA Player of the Year; Head Coach Tina Martin Receives CAA Coach of the Year Honors at Awards Banquet
3/7/2012 8:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The No. 7 ranked University of Delaware women's basketball team continued to pile up prestigious honors Wednesday night as All-American junior guard/forward Elena Delle Donne and head coach Tina Martin won the top awards at the annual Colonial Athletic Association Women's Basketball Awards Banquet .
Delle Donne (at right), the nation's leading scorer at 28.3 points per game, was named the CAA Player of the Year for the second time in the last three years while Martin (at right), who earlier this year picked up her 300th career victory, was selected as the CAA Coach of the Year, earning the award for the second time in her career and for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Delle Donne, who hails from Wilmington, Del. (Ursuline Academy), becomes just the sixth CAA player to earn the Player of the Year honor multiple years, and the first since former Old Dominion standout Lucienne Berthieu won her third honor in 2001-02.
In addition to Delle Donne and Martin, junior guard Lauren Carra (bottom left) was selected to the All-CAA third team. Delle Donne also earned a spot on the CAA All-Defensive Team and was a first team CAA All-Academic Team selection. Also earning All-Academic honors for Delaware were honorable mention selections Meghan McLean, Kayla Miller, and Chelsea Craig.
The awards banquet was held on the eve of the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA Championship Tournament to be held this weekend at the The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. The first round will begin Thursday, March 8, at 12 noon followed by the quarterfinals on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday, and the championship game on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Delaware (27-1, 18-0 CAA), which became the first CAA team to record a perfect league regular season record since Old Dominion in 2001-02, earned the CAA regular season champion and the top seed for the tournament. The Blue Hens, looking to capture their first league tournament title since joining the CAA in 2001-02, will begin play Friday at 12 noon in the quarterfinals against the winner of the Towson vs. Old Dominion first round matchup.
Delle Donne, who also earned CAA Player of the Year honors in 2009-10 when she also was selected as the CAA Rookie of the Year, was joined on this year's All-CAA first team by Shante Evans of Hofstra, Courtney Hurt of VCU, Taleia Moton of George Mason, and Kamile Nacickaite of Drexel.
Ashley Betz-White of Old Dominion was named Rookie of the Year, while Nikki Newman of James Madison was selected as Defensive Player of the Year. Hofstra's Candice Bellocchio was named the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award winner.
Martin, who earned her third conference Coach of the Year honor in her 16 seasons, has led the Blue Hens to a record-breaking season that includes Delaware's first-ever national ranking, an unbeaten 18-0 Colonial Athletic Association record, and just one overall loss (27-1). The Blue Hens also completed a perfect home season record of 12-0 for the first time since 2006-07, won a school record 19 straight regular season conference games since last season, and posted 27 victories to set another all-time UD standard for wins in a season.
"I'm appreciative of everyone who helped make this award possible, including my outstanding staff, administration, and team," said 16th-year head coach Tina Martin. "This award should really be more of a Staff of the Year award, because I would not be able to achieve anything we have this season without their support."
Breaking records on an individual scale, Delle Donne became Delaware's all-time leading scorer for both the men's and women's programs vs. Drexel on Feb. 19 as she surpassed 2,030 career points, breaking the mark held by Mike Pegues, a current UD men's basketball assistant coach who played for the Hens from 1996-2000. Delle Donne currently ranks third in the all-time CAA record book with 2,122 career points.
The nation's leading scorer with 28.3 points per game, Delle Donne has already accumulated 791 points this season, surpassing her own UD single season record of 774 points set during her freshman year. The 6-5 forward now holds three of the top four single-season point totals in UD history.
Also named to the All-Defensive team, Delle Donne leads the Blue Hens with 292 rebounds, 72 blocks, and 34 steals this season. She ranks 15th in the nation with 10.4 rebounds per game and 18th with 2.6 blocked shots per game.
"You're only as good as the team around you and the coaches at the head of it all, and I wouldn't be able to achieve this without them," stated Delle Donne. "The love of my life may have brought me home, but my team brought back my love of the game."
A junior guard and CAA preseason honorable mention, Carra is the team's second leading scorer with 10.2 points per game. She scored a season-high 22 points as she drained her 100th career three-pointer during the Hens' 72-65 victory at James Madison on Jan. 29. Hot from behind the arc, Carra ranks fourth in Blue Hen history with 118 career three-pointers made and 10th with a 31.8 three-point percentage. She earned her second career CAA honor after being named third team All-CAA last season.
Four Blue Hen student-athletes landed on the conference's All-Academic honor rolls as well. Delle Donne, a human services major, was named to the league's All-Academic first team for the third consecutive season. In February, Delle Donne was named the Capital One/CoSIDA National Academic All-American of the Year.
McLean, a senior early childhood education major; Miller, an exercise physiology major with a minor in disabilities studies; and Craig, a chemistry major with a minor in Spanish, all earned CAA All-Academic honors for the third straight year.
AGATE:
2012 CAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
2012 CAA COACH OF THE YEAR: Tina Martin, Delaware
2012 CAA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ashley Betz-White, Old Dominion
2012 CAA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nikki Newman, James Madison
2012 DEAN EHLERS LEADERSHIP AWARDS: Candice Bellocchio, Hofstra
ALL-CAA FIRST TEAM
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Shante Evans, Hofstra
Courtney Hurt, VCU
Taleia Moton, George Mason
Kamile Nacickaite, Drexel
ALL-CAA SECOND TEAM
Alisha Andrews, UNCW
Andrea Barbour, VCU
Tarik Hislop, James Madison
Tia Lewis, Old Dominion
Hollie Mershon, Drexel
ALL-CAA THIRD TEAM
Candice Bellocchio, Hofstra
Kirby Burkholder, James Madison
Lauren Carra, Delaware
Deanna Kerkhof, Northeastern
Krystal Parnell, Towson
Taysha Pye, William & Mary
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Ashley Betz-White, Old Dominion
Christina Carter, VCU
Toia Giggetts, James Madison
Myeisha Hall, Old Dominion
Aprill McRae, VCU
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Alisha Andrews, UNCW
Candace Bond, Hofstra
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Nikki Newman, James Madison
Lauren Whitehurst, James Madison
ALL-ACADEMIC FIRST TEAM
Mari Buchan, Old Dominion
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Deanna Kerkhof, Northeastern
Jaclyn McKenna, William & Mary
Cody Paulk, Georgia State
ALL-ACADEMIC SECOND TEAM
Candice Bellocchio, Hofstra
Kirby Burkholder, James Madison
Nicole Capurso, Hofstra
Marisa Crane, Drexel
Courtney Hurt, VCU
ALL-ACADEMIC HONORABLE MENTION
Chelsea Craig, Delaware
Fiona Flanagan, Drexel
Dani Iervolino, Northeastern
Renee Johnson-Allen, Drexel
Marie Malone, Hofstra
Meghan McLean, Delaware
Kayla Miller, Delaware
Janaa Pickard, George Mason
Abby Redick, Drexel
Cierra Strickland, George Mason
Joyus Tharrington, George Mason
Tory Thierolf, Drexel
Diana Venezia, UNCW
Lauren Whitehurst, James Madison
Taylor Wootton, Drexel
