University of Delaware Athletics
Elena Delle Donne Earns Third CAA Player of the Year Award; Lauren Carra Named to Second Team
3/13/2013 6:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – For the second straight year and third time in the last four seasons, University of Delaware senior Elena Delle Donne (at right) was named the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
The announcement was made Wednesday evening at the CAA's pre-tournament banquet.
Additionally, Delle Donne grabbed spots on the All-Defensive Team and All-Academic First Team honors while classmate Lauren Carra was picked as an All-CAA Second Team selection. Chelsea Craig and Stephanie Leon took home All-Academic Honorable Mention accolades.
Delle Donne earns the third CAA Player of the Year honor of her career, joining Old Dominion's Lucienne Berthieu and Celeste Hill as the only other players to receive the conference's top award three times in their careers.
"It's definitely an honor to be named this three times over my career," Delle Donne remarked. "It's awesome that the CAA has welcomed me with open arms my entire career here. I am a team player, and this is all about my teammates. It's a team award because I couldn't do it without them. "
Regarding her academic honors, Delle Donne continued, "I like people to know that I'm far more than just a basketball player. I take academics very seriously and my entire life my mom and my dad have both raised me to be a wholesome person."
The forward currently ranks second in the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game and third in free throw percentage at 92.3 percent. Delle Donne also leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (48.4 percent), ranks second in blocks (2.4 per game) and is seventh in rebounding with 8.4 boards per contest.
Delle Donne, who holds 10 career University of Delaware women's basketball records, is tops in four CAA all-time records, including points (2,870), field goals made (970), free throws made (730) and blocked shots (262).
Additionally, the All-American forward is currently 13th in NCAA women's basketball history with 2,870 career points in just 108 games played.
Carra (at left), a preseason second team selection, is the team's second leading scorer at 11.4 points per game and has collected 41 three-pointers, an average of 1.4 per game. Earlier this season, the senior became the 23rd player in Blue Hen history to register 1,000 career points and currently sits with 1,233, which is good for 11th all-time.
"It's exciting to be recognized, but it all goes back to the team," stated Carra. "All of the awards that we got tonight were all because of the team. We win as a team and we lose as a team. That's our main focus all of the time."
Carra is also second all-time in UD history with 169 career three-pointers made and is 10th at a mark of 32.6 percent made. She is tied for second all-time with 128 career games played for the Hens. The guard is in the Top 20 of three other Delaware categories, including free throws made (12th; 372), assists (17th; 229), field goals attempted (17th; 1,063).
This marks Carra's third career CAA honor after receiving third team All-CAA the last two seasons.
Three Blue Hen student-athletes landed on the conference's All-Academic honor rolls as well. Delle Donne, a human service major, was named to the league's All-Academic first team for the fourth consecutive season. In February, Delle Donne became the fourth women's basketball player in history to earn the Capital One/CoSIDA National Academic All-American of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
Craig, a two-year captain, is an honors student at Delaware with a double major in exercise science and business administration with minors in chemistry and Spanish. Additionally, she is the president of the Delaware Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The honor is also her fourth straight from the CAA.
Leon is also a double major as a sophomore for the Hens with her focus on organizational & community leadership and international relations. The award is the second of her career.
No. 15/15 Delaware (27-3; 18-0 CAA) is amidst a school-record 22-game winning streak, which is good for third nationally behind Baylor and Notre Dame. The Blue Hens are the first CAA team to record a perfect league record in back-to-back seasons since 2000 when Old Dominion ended a streak of five straight undefeated CAA campaigns.
UD looks to repeat in 2013 as CAA Champions after capturing the 2012 title for the first time since joining the league in 2001-02.
First round action of the CAA Women's Basketball Championship tips off at noon tomorrow as #8 George Mason takes on #9 UNCW. The nationally-ranked Blue Hens will face the winner of the match at noon Friday.
With a win over George Mason/UNCW, Delaware will play at 2 p.m. Saturdsay in the semifinals against the winner of #4 Northeastern vs. #5 Hofstra. The Huskies and Pride play at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
The championship game is slated for 2 p.m. Sunday. Should the Hens advance, they could match up against #2 James Madison, #3 Drexel, #6 William & Mary or #7 Towson.
2012-13 CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARD WINNERS
2013 CAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
2013 CAA COACH OF THE YEAR: Daynia La-Force, Northeastern
2013 CAA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Precious Hall, James Madison
2013 CAA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Candace Bond, Hofstra
2013 DEAN EHLERS LEADERSHIP AWARDS: Hollie Mershon, Drexel
All-CAA First Team:
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Kirby Burkholder, James Madison
Shante Evans, Hofstra
Tarik Hislop, James Madison
Hollie Mershon, Drexel
All-CAA Second Team:
Lauren Carra, Delaware
Emily Correal, William & Mary
Deanna Kerkhof, Northeastern
Tanisha McTiller, Towson
Hollie Mershon, Drexel
All-CAA Third Team:
Janine Aldridge, William & Mary
Kashaia Cannon, Northeastern
Jackie Cook, Old Dominion
Karneshia Garrett, UNCW
Jewel Tunstull, Northeastern
Taylor Wootton, Drexel
All-Rookie Team:
Meghan Creighton, Drexel
Galaisha Goodhope, Old Dominion
Jazmon Gwathmey, James Madison
Precious Hall, James Madison
Dominique Johnson, Towson
All-Defensive Team:
Janine Aldridge, William & Mary
Candace Bond, Hofstra
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Shae Kelley, Old Dominion
Cody Paulk, Georgia State
All-Academic First Team:
Mairi Buchan, Old Dominion
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Deanna Kerkhof, Northeastern
Jaclyn McKenna, William & Mary
Joyus Tharrington, George Mason
All-Academic Second Team:
Kirby Burkholder, James Madison
Amber Easter, George Mason
Kyla Kerstetter, William & Mary
Cody Paulk, Georgia State
Tory Thierolf, Drexel
All-Academic Honorable Mention:
Ashley Betz-White, Old Dominion
Chelsea Craig, Delaware
Fiona Flanagan, Drexel
Renee Johnson-Allen, Drexel
McKenzie Kudron, Hofstra
Stephanie Leon, Delaware
Chelsea McGowen, UNCW
Rachel McNair, George Mason
Janaa Pickard, George Mason
Abby Redick, Drexel
Kanita Shepherd, James Madison
Diana Venezia, UNCW
Taylor Wootton, Drexel
