University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Lafayette
Delaware Drops Lid-Lifter to Lafayette, 63-52, Despite Double Doubles From Bell and Caracciolo
11/14/2014 10:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – The University of Delaware women's basketball team was unable to recover Friday after shooting an abysmal 13.8 percent in the first half en route to a
63-52 loss at Lafayette in the season opener.
Despite the first half's offensive woes, the Blue Hens (0-1) received double doubles from junior Alecia Bell (Newport News, Va./Woodside) and senior Joy Caracciolo (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson). Bell registered career-highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds while Caracciolo notched 15 rebounds and 10 points.
Sophomore Erika Brown (at left; Haledon, N.J./John F. Kennedy) added 13 points of her own while classmate Hannah Jardine (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada/O'Donel) exploded for a career-best 15 rebounds.
Delaware was held to just 17 points in the first half after shooting 4-for-29 from the floor. The Blue Hens recovered slightly in the second half by shooting 11-for-15 (.314), but it wasn't enough, as they then couldn't make the defensive stops that were necessary.
Free throw shooting seemed to be the Hens' only saving grace as UD went 22-for-32 (.688) from the charity stripe during the game.
Delaware outrebounded the Leopards, 60-35, but also committed 19 turnovers to just 10 for LC.
Tina Martin“For me, it all started at the defensive end. We've been harping at our kids about defense all preseason about making stops. We then got ourselves in a lot of trouble after we actually played some quality defense but missed a lot of point-blank shots. At that point it started snowballing from missing a lot of layups to getting frustrated to not rotating on defense. We'll go through some growing pains, but we can and will bounce back from this.”
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· The Blue Hens snapped a 10-game winning streak in season openers and are now 23-21 all-time in the lid-lifter.
· The last time UD lost a season opener came on November 21, 2003 when the Blue Hens lost, 80-78, to Richmond in overtime. Delaware finished the 2003-04 season with a 19-10 record.
· Delaware recorded two 60-plus-rebound games last season after tallying 63 at Rider (Nov. 24, 2013) and tying a CAA Tournament record with 60 against the College of Charleston (March 15, 2014).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
· Sunday, November 16 - #rv Marist at Delaware – 2 p.m. – Bob Carpenter Center (Newark, Del.)
· Friday, November 21 – Delaware at East Carolina – 11:30 a.m. – Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (Greenville, N.C.)
· Tuesday, November 25 – Fordham at Delaware – 7 p.m. – Bob Carpenter Center (Newark, Del.)
