Blue Hens Basketball
Delaware’s Jarvis Threatt, center, is elbowed in the face by Drexel’s Frantz Massenat, left, as he drives to the basket in the second half of Delaware’s 66-64 win over Drexel in Philadelphia, Pa. on Monday night, January 28, 2013.
One of the big pluses to joining the staff at The News Journal is getting to cover college sports I’m familiar with. Cover Wyoming’s basketball run to start the season was awesome (though it appears I got out at the right time since they’re 3-7 since I left), but covering a program I grew up this close to feels a bit more special.
The University of Delaware isn’t an athletic powerhouse like Alabama or even Maryland. They do, though, love to pop up from time to time and surprise the world, usually on the back of a star athlete. Joe Flacco brought the football program back to prominence after transferring to Delaware from Pittsburgh and leading them to a national championship. Elena Della Donne, has lifted the women’s basketball program to new heights after transferring to Delaware from Connecticut, playing volleyball for a year and then returning to her first love, basketball. In just three years on the team, and 101 games under he belt, she broke the Colonial Athletic Association points record last week against JMU.
I haven’t had the pleasure of covering the Blue Hens much, Bill Bretzger has handled most of their games since I arrived, but I did hit the road back-to-back days to Philly to watch the men’s and women’s teams take on arch-rival Drexel. The women were pretty dominant in their victory, though the game became a bit of a nail biter with three minutes remaining before they closed the door. The men’s team, like they love to do, played a squeaker the whole way, watching a large lead evaporate before winning at the end.
Delaware will hosts the opening rounds of the women’s NCAA Tournament, so I can’t wait for that fun next month!
Drexel fans react behind Delaware’s Lauren Carra (22) after she had a three-point shot blocked by Drexel’s Nicki Jones in the first half of Delaware’s 65-56 win over Drexel in Philadelphia, Pa. on Sunday afternoon, January 27, 2013.
season, bettered the previous St. John’s women’s mark of 168 held by Joe Mullaney Jr. (1984-1996), who has since become a longtime aide to Villanova’s Harry Perretta and holds the title associate head coach.
She may hold that record as well, but against JMU, she broke the CAA all-time points record of 2,667 points previously held by JMU’s Dawn Evans (’07-’11). She also tied the field goals mark (904) of Drexel’s Gabriela Marginean (’06-10). With three more free throws, she’ll beat Marginean’s record of 684.