University of Delaware Athletics
No. 25 Blue Hens Continue Winning Ways, Capture 12th Straight Victory with 70-38 Rout of Georgia State
1/31/2013 7:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA --Playing their third game in just five days, the No. 25 ranked Blue Hen women's basketball team had every reason to be tired. But you never would have known it by the performance Thursday as Delaware jumped out to a 19-point halftime lead and never looked back in posting an easy 70-38 Colonial Athletic Association victory over host Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena.
All-American Elena Delle Donne continued her stellar play by scoring a game-high 25 points and Akeema Richards added 10 points as Delaware (17-3, 8-0 CAA) remained unbeaten in league play with its 12th straight victory.
The Blue Hens, who moved back into the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week, also extended their three-year regular season conference winning streak to 27 games.
“All in all, it was a good win,” UD head coach Tina Martin remarked postgame. “During halftime, I told the kids they [Georgia State] better not get 40. And they didn't. We're trying to get the team to understand that when you get a lead, you need to slam the door. I've a very stringent coach when it comes to defense, fundamentals and rotations. If you get into bad habits now, it's going to bite you later on. I keep preaching to the team that they can't let their guard down.”
Senior Danielle Parker led the team with 10 rebounds while Kelsey Buchanan (at top right)posted 14 very efficient minutes of play with seven points, seven rebounds, a steal and assist.
“I think that we played as a team very well tonight,” commented Buchanan. “I really take pride in my role. It's the middle of the season so things have to be about the team, it can't be about me. Whatever the coaches want me to do is what I'll do. I think if I play defense well early on, I'm more aggressive on the offensive end.”
Overall, Delaware outshot the Panthers, 44.1 percent (26-59) to 30.8 percent (16-52) in addition to outrebounding them, 48 to 23. Georgia State also tallied 14 turnovers to just six assists while the Blue Hens dished out 15 assists in the game. The effort was UD's fourth 30-point victory margin of the season.
“I thought we shared the ball again well and had some nice looks,” stated Martin. “We broke their pressure easily and defensively, we did a better job in the second half. I thought the younger players did a pretty good job on the defensive end of the floor. It's nice to get some people some rest and we were subbing everyone in and out in the second half. We've got a big stretch coming and we have to get our energy levels back.”
The Panthers held the Blue Hens within reach in the first nine minutes of the contest as they were down by just three at the 11:03 mark following a jumper from Ashlee Cole.
Delaware responded defensively at that point, going on a 14-0 run over the next five-plus minutes to take a 17-point lead at 30-13.
A layup from Maryam Dogo with just over three minutes remaining before halftime was GSU's final field goal of the first half as the Blue Hens gave up just one free throw in the waning minutes.
Delle Donne nearly outscored the Panthers in the first half with 19 points of her own while Delaware held a 40-19 lead at the break.
Georgia State allowed the Blue Hens to get easy buckets in the second half as Delaware put up 10 straight layups during a 13-minute stretch. UD also held the Panthers scoreless for nearly five minutes in the second.
Cody Paulk led Georgia State (10-9, 2-6 CAA) with 13 points and seven rebounds but no other Panther player managed more than seven points or five rebounds.
Delaware returns home to host Hofstra Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised locally on WHYY.
