University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
2-17-7 | CAA
Northeastern
1-26-8 | CAA
Nicholas Notches First Career Double Double; Delaware Defeats Northeastern, 59-52
1/10/2016 5:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Boxscore (.html) | Boxscore (.pdf)
NEWARK, Del. – Sophomore Makeda Nicholas (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) posted her first career double double Sunday afternoon to guide the Blue Hens to a 59-52 victory over Northeastern at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Nicholas, who has earned the starting nod in each of the last three contests, registered a career-best 15 rebounds to go along with 12 points, three steals and two blocks for Delaware (7-7, 2-1 CAA).
Junior Erika Brown (below right; Paterson, N.J./John F. Kennedy) added 12 points and four assists while senior Courtni Green (at left; Winchester, Va./Millbrook) collected 10 points and three rebounds.
The Hens used a defensive effort to shut down the Huskies (6-8, 1-2 CAA) and held one of the league's top leading scorers in Samantha DeFreese scoreless. Claudia Ortiz logged a game- and career-high 27 points for Northeastern while DeFreese recorded nine rebounds.
With the two teams tied going into the fourth quarter, Delaware opened the stanza with seven unanswered points. The Hens outscored the Huskies, 18-11, in the final period and held NU scoreless for the final three minutes of the match.
“Samantha [DeFreese] is one of the best players in the league as she is very talented. It took our whole team today to rotate on her and test her. Overall, our defense was very good and we did a great job on the boards.”
Junior Erika Brown
“We can't win without defense. We knew they looked to their posts as their main scorers and rebounders, so we had to keep it out of their hands. We did a really good job of doing so. This game is full of runs and every team is going to go on runs. We had some and they had some, it's all in how you respond to it. We kept calm, stuck to our game plan and came up with the win.”
Sophomore Makeda Nicholas
“I knew I had a really big job in defending Samantha [DeFreese] and I wanted to do it right. She's a great player and I knew shutting her down would help us win the game in the end. I wanted to win so badly and I'm happy that we did. We're now into CAA play and it's time for us to start winning.”
· Delaware has won three straight at the Bob Carpenter Center.
· The Blue Hens are 36-11 all-time over the Huskies and have won 29 of the last 30, including 13 straight in Newark.
· Delaware and Northeastern complete the regular season series Feb. 19 in Boston.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
· Friday, January 15 – Delaware at College of Charleston – 6:30 p.m. – TD Arena (Charleston, S.C.)
· Sunday, January 17 – Towson at Delaware – 2 p.m. – Bob Carpenter Center (Newark, Del.)
· Friday, January 22 – Drexel at Delaware – 7 p.m. – Bob Carpenter Center (Newark, Del.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Maggie Hayon | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 920-912-6635
