Cousins’ Career Evening Leads Women’s Basketball Past Hofstra, 73-38

Friday, January 14

Newark, Del.

7 P.M.

University of Delaware

8-4,2-0CAA

Hofstra

3-7,0-2CAA

Hofstra

Delaware

Photo by: Mark Campbell

Cousins’ Career Evening Leads Women’s Basketball Past Hofstra, 73-38

1/14/2022 11:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. – It's been 54 days since the Delaware women's basketball team played in front of the home crowd and the Blue Hens captured a dominating 73-38 CAA victory over Hofstra (3-7, 0-2 CAA) Friday evening inside Bob Carpenter Center. With the win, the Blue & Gold extended their winning streak against the Pride to 13 games and is now 8-4 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.

"Our message was to slow down and let the zone work and then have the shooters knock it down. Tara Cousins, we had a talk with her saying this is your moment and she stepped up beautifully," said head coach Natasha Adair. "Her teammates found her [Cousins] and celebrated her. It was the first time we have been here [the Bob], the team just wants to come out and play well for everyone, especially their family and their friends. The beauty of our team is the depth of our team. It was a team effort and when it's conference time it is 0-0, we don't care about anyone's record because everyone has something to play for. I am just proud of our group because each time we step out, we are getting better, it's next woman up, but we want to make sure we are ready."

After a slow start in the opening 2:28, Jasmine Dickey broke the game's scoring at the 7:32 mark with a routine jumper to give Delaware the early 2-0 lead. Hofstra responded 26 seconds later, thanks for Sorelle Ineza's jumper to make it a 2-all game. Paris McBride connected from deep to ignite an 11-4 run for the Blue Hens from 5:40 to 3:43 to hold a nine-point advantage (13-4). The Pride trimmed the deficit to three (15-12) after Maniya Custis pull-up jumper with 21 seconds showing on the clock. Then Tara Cousin drained one of five triples in the remaining five seconds to push the Blue Hen lead back up to six, 18-12.

At the 7:37 mark of the second period, Cousins connected with Makayla Pippin to push Delaware's lead to nine, 23-14. Hofstra wouldn't go away quietly as the Pride put together a 6-0 run to trail by three (23-20) with 4:15 left. The Blue Hens scored six of the game's next nine points in the remaining 1:53 to send the 29-23 game into the break.

After Hofstra made it a six-point game (33-27), Delaware imploded with a 23-6 run kick started by Tyi Skinner's three-pointer at the 7:44 mark. The run was capped by back-to-back triples by Cousins as the Blue Hens headed into the final quarter leading 56-33.

The fourth quarter was all Delaware basketball that Adair continues to give praise. With five minutes remaining, Dickey's jumper ballooned the Blue Hens' lead to a game-high 36 points (69-33). Mar Tejedor sank a free throw with eight seconds left to settle the 73-38 final.

Cousins led the way with a career-best 17 points (5-of-8 3FG) to go with three rebounds off the bench. Dickey followed with 13 points and 11 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season. She added five assists, two blocks and a pair of steals. Skinner poured in 12 points (4-of-8 FG, 4-of-6 3FG) and dished out five assists while Pippin chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block from the pine.

Ineza finished with 12 points (5-of-11 FG) while Jaylen Hines followed with eight points and seven rebounds for Hofstra.

Delaware shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the field, 55 percent (11-of-20) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the free-throw line. Hofstra connected on 31.3 percent (15-of-48) from the field, 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from three-point territory and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from the charity stripe. The Blue Hens held the rebound margin advantage (47-29) while scoring 11 second-chance points off of 16 offensive rebounds. Delaware outplayed Hofstra in assists (19-4), blocks (4-2), bench points (31-8) and fastbreak points (11-6) while scoring 23 points off of 21 Pride miscues. The Pride led the way in steals (14-8) while both teams were even with scoring 20 points in the paint.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Blue Hens will return to the court on Sunday, Jan. 16, for a CAA showdown against Northeastern inside Bob Carpenter Center at 1 p.m.

Gallery: (1-14-2022) WBB vs. Hofstra

Gallery: (1-14-2022) WBB vs. Hofstra (JF)

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