Dickey And Adair Win CAA Player And Coach Of The Year Awards

Dickey And Adair Win CAA Player And Coach Of The Year Awards

3/9/2021 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Jasmine Dickey and Ty Battle earn First Team All-CAA & All-Defense nods; Tyi Skinner named All-Rookie

RICHMOND, Va. – Delaware women's basketball junior guard Jasmine Dickey was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, and Delaware head coach Natasha Adair was named the CAA Coach of the Year, the league announced Tuesday afternoon.

Additionally to Dickey's placement on the All-CAA First Team, she also earned recognition on the CAA All-Defensive Team. Redshirt junior forward Ty Battle joined Dickey on both the First Team and the All-Defensive Team, while freshman guard Tyi Skinner was honored on the CAA All-Rookie Team.

Dickey, the Blue Hens' first CAA Player of the Year since Nicole Enabosi in 2017-18, enjoyed a breakout year during the 2020-21 season. The Baltimore native averaged a conference-best 23.6 points per game, good for the eighth most in Division I. With 519 points in 22 games this season, she became the 28th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points. Dickey also led the CAA with 53 total steals at a clip of 2.4 per game.

The junior captain averaged 8.8 rebounds per game, the fourth most in the CAA, and 1.8 assists per game. Dickey's shooting numbers were at career highs across the board, with the guard knocking down 40.9% of her field goals and 80.2% of her free throws, and nearly quadrupling her total three-point production from a year ago.

Dickey scored in double figures in every game this season, breaking the 20-point mark 16 times and the 30-point mark five times, in addition to seven double-doubles.

In her fourth season at the helm of the Blue Hens, Adair led Delaware to its best season since WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne was a senior. After being picked sixth in the preseason poll, Delaware rolled to the CAA Regular Season Championship with a 19-3 overall record and a 16-2 mark in conference play, the first regular season crown and the best records for the Blue Hens since 2012-13.

Delaware was the only team, men or women, to play a full 18-game CAA slate this season, and did so in style by sweeping seven of its nine CAA series. The Blue Hens started the season hot in non-conference play, with wins over ACC (85-79 at Pitt, Dec. 6) and Big East (93-88 vs. St. John's, Dec. 10) opponents. Delaware also finished the year with a perfect 11-0 record at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Battle made a huge impact in her first season in a Delaware uniform, tying for third in Division I with 16 double-doubles. The Plainfield, Ill., native was the CAA's top rebounder, averaging 11.2 boards per game. Battle averaged a double-double, scoring at a rate of 12.2 points per game. A threat on both ends of the floor, the forward filled the stat sheet with 2.0 steals, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 assists per contest.

Skinner made a mark in her first collegiate season as the second-unit point guard and a dynamic scorer. In just 19.8 minutes per game, the Washington, D.C., native was Delaware's third-leading scorer with 8.0 points per game. She also collected 1.8 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per contest. Skinner put an exclamation point on her freshman year in just her third career game, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the Dec. 10 win over St. John's.

As the top seed in the 2021 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament, Delaware awaits the winner of College of Charleston-UNCW in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11 at 2:30 p.m. from the Schar Center in Elon, N.C.