University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Northeastern
Caracciolo and Nicholas Push Blue Hens Past Huskies, 70-61
2/5/2015 9:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NEWARK, Del. – Senior Joy Caracciolo (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) and freshman Makeda Nicholas (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) posted career nights as the University of Delaware women's basketball squad swept the regular season series over Northeastern University by a score of 70-61 Thursday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Caracciolo (at left) recorded her second straight double double with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor to go along with 10 rebounds.
Nicholas tallied season-bests of 17 points by going 8-for-16 from the floor in addition to blocking four shots.
Delaware (11-11, 6-5 Colonial Athletic Association) also received double figures from sophomore Erika Brown (below right; Haledon, N.J./Paterson Kennedy) and junior Courtni Green (Winchester, Va./Millbrook), who put up 16 and 12 points, respectively.
The Blue Hens trailed by as many as 13 points in the opening half and went down 31-27 at halftime before a jumper from Nicholas and free throws from Caracciolo tied the game and then gave UD the lead for good just five minutes into the second stanza.
Delaware made nine free throws in the final 1:08 to seal the victory over the Huskies (4-17, 1-10 CAA).
Amencie Mercier led Northeastern with 15 points while Samantha DeFreese and A'lece Mark recorded 13 points apiece. DeFreese added a game-best 12 rebounds for NU.
“We played very flat in the first half. Towards the middle of the second half, we buckled down. We executed offensively, got people to the foul line and put up some good looks. We are finally over .500 in the conference and now it's going to continue to be a dog fight until the end.”
[On freshman Makeda Nicholas]: “Makeda is gro
wing as a player and I am very happy about that. When she starts to get that inside/outside game going like tonight, she calmed down, went to work and got buckets. She got to the glass, which is what we needed.”
Senior Joy Caracciolo
“One of the keys to the game was having us post hard and adapt to their defense. We had to get the hang of their style, find the holes and hit the boards. We knew we were never out of it, the coaches continued to encourage us and pushed that we needed to get stops one by one and then score on the offensive end.”
Freshman Makeda Nicholas
“We weren't happy with the result in the first half, but no one got frustrated. We knew we had to keep pushing. We really kept our heads up and I'm glad we did so.”
[On continual personal improvement this season]: At the beginning of the season, I wasn't as comfortable because I had never played college basketball before. Coach Martin told me to be patient with the ball and I'd get use to the game. And that's exactly what I did. I got use to the style of Delaware basketball and everything is starting to click.”
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· Delaware defeated Northeastern, 54-48, on January 11 in Boston.
· The Blue Hens have won 27 of the last 28 against the Huskies.
· UD has won three straight six of the last eight contests.
· Delaware tied a season-high with 22 free throws. Tonight's game was the first win this season when the Hens recorded at least 20 free throws.
· UD scored over 70 points for just the fifth time this season but for the fourth time in five games.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
· Sunday, February 8 – UNCW at Delaware* – 2 p.m. – Bob Carpenter Center (Newark, Del.)
· Friday, February 13 – Delaware at William & Mary* – 7 p.m. – Kaplan Arena (Williamsburg, Va.)
· Sunday, February 15 – Delaware at James Madison* – 1 p.m. – Convocation Center (Harrisonburg, Va.) – American Sports Network
AGATE:
NORTHEASTERN (4-17, 1-10 CAA)
DeFreese 6-10 1-1 13, Sally 3-6 2-2 8, Mercier 6-12 0-0 15, Stewart 0-1 0-0 0, Taggart 3-6 0-0 9, Mark 4-11 3-3 13, Hopewell 1-2 1-4 3, Totals 23-48 7-10 61
DELAWARE (11-11, 6-5 CAA)
Nicholas 8-16 1-2 17, Jardine 3-6 0-0 7, Caracciolo 7-14 4-6 18, Green 1-5 9-10 12, Brown 4-12 8-10 16, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Salyer 0-3 0-0 0, Leon 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 23-56 22-28 70
Halftime Score: Northeastern 31, Delaware 27; Three-Point Field Goals: D – 2-4 (Jardine 1-1, Green 1-3), N – 8-15 (DeFreese 0-1, Mercier 3-4, Taggart 3-6, Mark 2-4); Rebounds: D – 33 (Caracciolo 10), N – 30 (DeFreese 12); Assists: D – 12 (6 players with 2), N – 12 (Mercier/Mark 4); Total Fouls: D – 12, N – 19; Attendance: 1,623.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Maggie Hayon | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 920-912-6635
