University of Delaware Athletics
Celebration of Champions: Women’s Basketball Wins 2001 America East Championship, Earns Program’s First NCAA Berth
2/11/2021 12:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The 2000-01 Delaware women's basketball team enjoyed a tremendous season in which the Blue Hens set a then-program record for wins and earned the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
Delaware finished with a 26-5 record, including a 17-1 mark in America East play, before winning a dramatic league championship game in overtime at Vermont.
The Blue Hens won five of their first eight games before recording a school record 17 consecutive victories. Delaware won its first 16 league games, with just one of its conference wins coming by single digits.
UD's only conference loss came at Vermont at the end of February, but the Blue Hens would avenge that defeat two weeks later. The league tournament was held in Burlington, where the Blue Hens defeated Boston University and Hartford to set up a rematch with the Catamounts in their home gym.
Vermont took a slim one-point lead into the half, but opened the second period with a 23-9 run to extend the margin to 48-33 with 12:13 remaining. But Delaware scored the next seven points to pull within eight, and kept chipping away until tying the game at 53-53 with 4:23 left on a Christina Rible layup.
A three-point play by Lindsay Davis and a layup by Cindy Johnson put the Blue Hens up 58-56, before Vermont answered with a jumper with 24 seconds left to force overtime.
Davis, who finished with 17 points including seven in overtime, opened the scoring in the extra session before Johnson added a layup to make it a four-point game, and UD led the rest of the way in the 69-64 victory.
Johnson, who scored a game-high 18 points, was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
"This is by far the biggest win in program history," said UD head coach Tina Martin, who was named America East Coach of the Year that season. "I am thrilled for our players. We showed tremendous heart and desire to win this championship."
Delaware, which defeated Vermont in Patrick Gym for the first time in 13 tries, won its first conference title since capturing the ECC crown in 1991.
The Blue Hens then earned a No. 13 seed in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, falling to fourth-seeded North Carolina State, 76-57, at Reynolds Coliseum.
Johnson, who finished her career as UD's all-time leading scorer and still ranks third with 1,675 points, was named first team All-America East and UD's Outstanding Senior Female Athlete of the Year. She also set the program record with 520 points in a single season, and ranked third in the league with a 17.3 scoring average.
Rible, who was also a first team All-America East selection, grabbed a UD single season record 324 rebounds, leading the league and ranking 14th in the NCAA with 10.5 boards per game. Rible was second on the squad by averaging 12.5 points per game while Danielle Leyfert, a third team all-conference pick, averaged 11.3 points per outing. Point guard Megan Dellegrotti added 9.7 points per game, a team-high 90 assists, and set a UD record with 49 three-pointers in a season.
Delaware finished with a 26-5 record, including a 17-1 mark in America East play, before winning a dramatic league championship game in overtime at Vermont.
The Blue Hens won five of their first eight games before recording a school record 17 consecutive victories. Delaware won its first 16 league games, with just one of its conference wins coming by single digits.
UD's only conference loss came at Vermont at the end of February, but the Blue Hens would avenge that defeat two weeks later. The league tournament was held in Burlington, where the Blue Hens defeated Boston University and Hartford to set up a rematch with the Catamounts in their home gym.
Vermont took a slim one-point lead into the half, but opened the second period with a 23-9 run to extend the margin to 48-33 with 12:13 remaining. But Delaware scored the next seven points to pull within eight, and kept chipping away until tying the game at 53-53 with 4:23 left on a Christina Rible layup.
A three-point play by Lindsay Davis and a layup by Cindy Johnson put the Blue Hens up 58-56, before Vermont answered with a jumper with 24 seconds left to force overtime.
Davis, who finished with 17 points including seven in overtime, opened the scoring in the extra session before Johnson added a layup to make it a four-point game, and UD led the rest of the way in the 69-64 victory.
Johnson, who scored a game-high 18 points, was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
"This is by far the biggest win in program history," said UD head coach Tina Martin, who was named America East Coach of the Year that season. "I am thrilled for our players. We showed tremendous heart and desire to win this championship."
Delaware, which defeated Vermont in Patrick Gym for the first time in 13 tries, won its first conference title since capturing the ECC crown in 1991.
The Blue Hens then earned a No. 13 seed in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, falling to fourth-seeded North Carolina State, 76-57, at Reynolds Coliseum.
Johnson, who finished her career as UD's all-time leading scorer and still ranks third with 1,675 points, was named first team All-America East and UD's Outstanding Senior Female Athlete of the Year. She also set the program record with 520 points in a single season, and ranked third in the league with a 17.3 scoring average.
Rible, who was also a first team All-America East selection, grabbed a UD single season record 324 rebounds, leading the league and ranking 14th in the NCAA with 10.5 boards per game. Rible was second on the squad by averaging 12.5 points per game while Danielle Leyfert, a third team all-conference pick, averaged 11.3 points per outing. Point guard Megan Dellegrotti added 9.7 points per game, a team-high 90 assists, and set a UD record with 49 three-pointers in a season.
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