University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Drexel (CAA Quarterfinals)
Blue Hens Survive for 55-48 CAA Quarterfinals Victory Over Drexel
3/13/2015 8:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Boxscore
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – The seventh-seeded University of Delaware women's basketball squad went ahead early and never looked back Friday evening in a 55-48 upset win over No. 2 Drexel in the Colonial Athletic Association Quarterfinals at The Show Place Arena.
The Dragon
s (20-10) held things close the entire game, but the Blue Hens (15-16) never relinquished the lead and now advance to Saturday's semifinals and will play No. 3 Hofstra at 3:30 p.m. The Pride defeated No. 6 seed William & Mary 64-51 (18-11) Friday evening.
Drexel came within two with 2:08 left on the clock, however Delaware finished the game with five straight free throws for victory.
Junior Courtni Green (at left; Winchester, Va./Millbrook) paced UD for the second straight day with 16 points and five rebounds.
Sophomores Hannah Jardine (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada/O'Donel) and Erika Brown (Haledon, N.J/Paterson Kennedy) contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Hens.
Senior Joy Caracciolo (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) added six points and nine rebounds.
Sarah Curran led the Dragons with 12 points while Jackie Schluth and Rachel Pearson notched eight points apiece. Schluth and Thompson grabbed a team-high five rebounds each while Alexis Smith dished out five assists.
“I'm really proud of our kids. I think they stepped up and followed the game plan beautifully. We were able to knock down some shots, but I thought it was a tremendous effort defensively for us. Our communication on the floor was much better. This team has really grown up and we'll continue to take one step at a time. We are doing a real good job right now. We kept our composure, defended and made our free throws. Kudos to the kids for stepping up to the free throw line and for making them when we needed to.”
Sophomore Erika Brown
(at right)
“It's win or go home. We're putting it all out there for this tournament and trying to get back to the championship game. We're going hard every game and giving it everything we have because we know the season can come to an end at any time.”
Sophomore Hannah Jardine
“I think every year when you come to the tournament, you're focusing on one game at a time. Obviously last year we came in as a higher seed, but we have the same determination level.”
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· The Blue Hens are 23-11 all-time in the CAA Tournament and 12-0 in quarterfinals games.
· UD is 5-0 all-time against Drexel in the CAA Tournament and 8-1 on a neutral court.
· The longest rivalry in program history, Delaware is 49-26 against the Dragons in series history.
· The Hens snapped a two-game losing streak to Drexel.
· Delaware reached the 2011 CAA Championship Final as a No. 7 seed.
· The Blue Hens have now reached the CAA Semifinals in five straight seasons.
· Hannah Jardine tied a UD CAA Tournament record with three 3-point field goals made.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
· Saturday, March 14 – CAA Tournament Semifinals - #7 Delaware vs. #3 Hofstra/#6 William & Mary – 3:30 p.m. – Show Place Arena (Upper Marlboro, Md.)
· Sunday, March 15 – CAA Tournament Final (with win) – Opponent tbd – 1 p.m. – Show Place Arena (Upper Marlboro, Md.)
· Further postseason play TBD
AGATE:
DELAWARE (15-16)
Green, Courtni 4-7 6-6 16; Jardine, Hannah 5-10 0-0 13; Brown, Erika 4-8 3-6 12; Caracciolo, Joy 3-6 0-1 6; Salyer, Jodi 2-5 0-0 4; Nicholas, Makeda 2-4 0-0 4; Leon, Stephanie 0-0 0-0 0; Taylor, Chastity 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-41 9-13 55.
DREXEL (20-10)
Curran, Sarah 5-18 2-2 12; Pearson, Rachel 3-10 0-0 8; Schluth, Jackie 4-8 0-0 8; Smith, Alexis 3-11 1-1 7; Lidge, Kelsi 2-2 2-2 6; Ouattara, Florence 2-7 0-0 5; Thompson, Jamila 1-3 0-0 2; Alexander, Carrie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 5-5 48.
Halftime score: Delaware 28, Northeastern 20; 3-point goals--Delaware 6-9 (Jardine, Hannah 3-5; Green, Courtni 2-3; Brown, Erika 1-1), Drexel 3-13 (Pearson, Rachel 2-6; Ouattara, Florence 1-2; Smith, Alexis 0-4; Curran, Sarah 0-1). Fouled out--Delaware-None, Drexel-None. Rebounds--Delaware 39 (Caracciolo, Joy 9), Drexel 23 (Thompson, Jamila 5; Schluth, Jackie 5). Assists--Delaware 9 (Salyer, Jodi 3), Drexel 10 (Smith, Alexis 5). Total fouls--Delaware 10, Drexel 15.
