2021-22 Women's Basketball Season Preview

Photo by: Mark Campbell

11/4/2021 2:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware women's basketball program will enter the 2021-22 campaign with 10 returning members who led the Blue Hens to a memorable season a year ago. In 2020-21, Delaware hoisted the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season championship, claimed the WNIT Charlotte Region Championship and made a semifinals appearance to finish the season with a 24-5 record including a 16-2 mark in league play.

Natasha Adair, who enters her fifth season leading Delaware, welcomes a recruiting class of four to form a roster of 14 student-athletes eager to lead the program to its third CAA title. Adair's peers selected the Blue Hens to finish first in the conference with 77 points, earning five first-place votes, as part of the 2021-22 CAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.

"The energy and excitement for our upcoming season is a tribute to the hard work and dedication that our players, coaches and support staff have committed to from day one," said Adair. "Our 2021-22 non-conference schedule is competitive and it will prepare us for the rigor of CAA play. Our goal is to keep the momentum from last season and we are a team that is on a mission. Our players have worked tirelessly during the off-season. We can't wait until the opening tip! We're going to be fast, we're going to be efficient and fun to watch!! Let's Go Hens!!!"

THE LEADERSHIP OF FIVE
Adair announced Ty Battle, Jasmine Dickey, Tee Johnson, Paris McBride and Lizzie Oleary will lead Delaware as team captains.

Senior guard/forward Dickey, the reigning CAA Player of the Year, was selected as the 2021-22 CAA Preseason Player of the Year and landed on the preseason All-CAA first team ahead of the upcoming season. The Baltimore, Md. native put together a remarkable junior year when she averaged 22.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals, 1.9 assists and 0.6 blocks per game. She led the nation with 607 field goal attempts and ranked in the top 10 in field goals made (237), points scored (656), free throw attempts (214), free throws made (170), offensive rebounds per game (4.6) and steals (71). Along with being top-10 in the nation, Dickey ranked 12th in scoring and led the way in the CAA in steals and second in scoring. She joined the 1,000-point club after scoring 19 points at James Madison on Feb. 21 to become the 28th player in program history to join the elusive list. Dickey added to her incredible resume by being named to the preseason watch list for the 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award by Her Hoop Stats and the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award. Her accolades also include a first-team All-CAA, CAA All-Defensive Team, and CAA All-Tournament Team selections along with WNIT Charlotte All-Region Team and WNIT All-Tournament Team honors.

Redshirt senior forward Battle, a first-team All-CAA selection a season ago, joined Dickey on the CAA preseason first team after averaging a career-best 12.0 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.76 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.03 blocks per game. The double-double machine finished second in the nation with a career-high 19 double-doubles while also ranking fifth in Division I in offensive rebounds per game (4.9) and sixth in total rebounds (323). Battle led the conference in double-doubles, rebounds and rebounds per game, and ranked second in blocked shots (30) and offensive rebounds per game.

Joining Battle as a frontcourt power duo is graduate student Oleary, who started in all 29 games to average career-highs of 7.2 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 48.7 percent from the field. The trio of Battle, Dickey and Oleary on the boards helped Delaware lead the nation in offensive rebounds per game (20.3).

Providing veteran leadership in the backcourt are senior guard McBride and fifth-year guard Johnson. McBride started 27 games at the point guard position, leading the team with 3.4 assists and ranking fifth in the conference with a 1.49 assist-to-turnover ratio. Johnson served as the defensive spark after appearing in all 29 games off the pine a season ago.

THE BLUE & GOLD BACKCOURT
Six guards will be joining McBride and Johnson in the backcourt. Sophomore Tyi Skinner, who earned CAA All-Rookie and WNIT Charlotte All-Region Team accolades last year, made two starts in 29 appearances during her rookie season. The Washington D.C. product averaged 8.8 points, 1.8 assists and 1.6 rebounds and was the #1 play on ESPN's Sportscenter Top 10 after hitting two half-court buzzer-beaters against Clemson. Redshirt senior Jewel Smalls finished her first year in a Delaware uniform by leading the team with 51 made three-pointers, shooting 34.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Roswell, Ga. native averaged 7.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 26 games played. Additionally, the Blue Hens return the services of sophomore Tara Cousins, who was sidelined by injury. Sophomores Jadaia Reid and Mar Tejedor will be vying for time on the hardwood after appearing in 13 and 11 games, respectively, during their rookie campaign. Freshman Mia Yanogacio makes her collegiate debut after last playing at Rutgers Prep High School, where she won a trio of conference championships and was an All-American nominee.

THE BLUE & GOLD FRONTCOURT
Looking to be a big presence alongside Battle and Oleary are graduate student transfer Maddie Sims, senior transfer Makayla Pippin and freshman Aja Austin. Arriving to Newark from UMass, forward Sims will look to provide depth in the frontcourt as she started in 15 games to average 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The Mount Laurel, N.J. native led the Minutewomen in blocked shots with 20 and previously played three seasons at Siena. Hailing from Indianapolis, Ind., guard/forward Pippin appeared in six games last season for Kansas State and played two seasons at Central Arizona College. Pippin averaged 16.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game (100 steals) in 58 games played (54 starts) at CAC. Adair welcomes freshman center Austin to her roster, who was a standout at Westerville South High school. The Westerville, Ohio native was part of the three-time OCC, two-time district and regional championship team. Austin was named All-OCC first team, All-OCC second team, All-OCC honorable mention, All-District Honorable Mention, two-time district 10 super team, All-District first team and All-Ohio second team during her four years suiting up for the Wildcats.

SCHEDULE
Delaware will play 13 of its 29-game schedule in the friendly confines of the Bob Carpenter Center. The Blue Hens will begin the season with hosting duties in back-to-back games starting next Tuesday, Nov. 9, against Chestnut Hill College at 6:30 p.m. and then welcome Princeton three days later for their 28th meeting.

The Blue & Gold will open their road portion of the schedule on Monday, Nov. 15, when they travel to Maine for the 25th meeting with the Black Bears. Delaware will close out its competitive road non-conference slate on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Northwestern, a team that made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Blue Hens will wrap up their non-conference schedule at home against former conference foe and Atlantic-10 champions VCU on Wednesday, Dec. 22.

Delaware will open league play at home against James Madison on Dec. 31 and Towson on Jan. 2 to kick off the new year. The Blue Hens have two dates circled: Sunday, Jan. 23, when they first meet the defending CAA champions Drexel, and then hosting the Dragons on Sunday, Feb. 20. The Blue Hens will look to contend for the CAA Championship on Mar. 9-12 with James Madison hosting the tournament.

The 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament begins with Selection Monday on Mar. 14, and first- and second-round games being played on Mar. 18-Mar. 21 at top-16 seeds.

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