CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND! Women’s Basketball Outlasts Towson In Dramatic Fashion, 56-55

Saturday, March 12

Philadelphia, Pa.

3:30 p.m.

University of Delaware

23-7,15-3CAA

Towson

24-7,14-4CAA

Towson

Delaware

Photo by: Jeff Fannon

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND! Women’s Basketball Outlasts Towson In Dramatic Fashion, 56-55

3/12/2022 7:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – In the most dramatic fashion possible, the University of Delaware women's basketball team outlasted No. 3 seed Towson (24-7) 56-55 in the 2022 CAA Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Primis semifinals Saturday afternoon inside Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Tyi Skinner drains two clutch free throws with 0.4 seconds left on the clock for the No. 2 Blue Hens (23-7) to survive and advance and will meet the top-seeded and defending champions Drexel for the second-straight year in the title game scheduled for 1 p.m.

"Well that was fun right," said head coach Natasha Adair. "We told our team a couple of days ago that March doesn't care. Anything crazy can happen in March and you have to embrace the moments. From start to finish, our players made the extra plays, played together, made the hustle plays -- they made the plays that elite teams make this time of year to win. I am super proud of how we represented our program, Delaware and our fans -- this game today is so much of what you all don't see. You don't see their hard work every day -- I am proud of how we fought from the tip to the final buzzer today. We played 40 minutes of Delaware Basketball."

Skinner made a turnaround jumper 22 seconds into the opening quarter to kick start an 8-2 Blue Hen run. Towson responded with five unanswered points to pull within one (8-7) with 6:49 left. The Blue Hens remained poised throughout the quarter, extending their lead to seven points on two separate occasions, a triple by Skinner at the 5:34 mark (16-9) and again with Jasmine Dickey's putback layup with 1:26 left (22-15). The Tigers made it a five-point game thanks to Tarriyonna Gary's jumper to close out the first quarter, 22-17.

13 seconds into the second quarter, Ty Battle made a beautiful hook shot to push the Blue & Gold lead back up to seven, 24-17. The Tigers made a run to pull within one (28-27) before Lizzie Oleary laid in two for Delaware to take the three-point advantage into the break, 30-27.

Through three-quarters of play, Delaware held the narrow four-point edge, 42-38. Towson rallied in the fourth with a 9-4 spurt to take the lead, 47-46, with 3:50 left. The seesaw battle commenced with both teams tying the game three times. At 52-all, Dickey knocked down a pair of much-needed free throws with 11 seconds showing on the clock. Gary then responded with a necessary three-pointer to put the Tigers up by one, 55-54. Eight seconds was all the Blue Hens had left as Skinner attempts to put back Battle's shot and gets fouled by Gary with 0.4 seconds left. With ice-cold veins and built for moments like this, Skinner knocks in the two game-winning free throws to settle the 56-55 final.

Dickey led all scorers with 22 points (6-of-10 FT) and 16 rebounds to post her 17th double-double of the season. The Baltimore, Md. native became the sixth Blue Hen in program history to register 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds after pulling down her 1,000th rebound at the 6:25 mark in the second quarter. Battle followed with 11 points (5-of-8 FG) and 13 rebounds to post her 22nd double-double of the season. She added two steals to her stat line. Skinner chipped in 10 points, including the critical game-winning free throws.

Gary and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas both poured in 15 points to pace Towson while Allie Kubek finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Delaware shot 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field, 30 percent (3-of-10) from beyond the arc and 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the free-throw line. Towson connected on 33.8 percent (22-of-65) from the field, 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from three-point territory and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the charity stripe. Delaware held the rebound margin advantage (44-34) while scoring seven second-chance points off of 15 offensive rebounds. Delaware led the way in points in the paint (28-24). Towson won the edge in blocks (5-1), steals (7-6), fast break points (8-5) and bench points (17-0) while scoring 12 points off of 17 Blue Hen turnovers. Both teams were even with 11 assists apiece.

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