.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University
Delaware (doubleheader w/ men)
Players Mentioned
Delle Donne Gets 35, But Women's Basketball Beats Delaware 68-59
November 22, 2009 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON -- Delaware's Elena Delle Donne, two seasons ago the winner of multiple National Player of the Year honors in high school, put on one of Jadwin Gym's best performances ever, but the Princeton women's basketball team got the 68-59 win over the Blue Hens Saturday afternoon.
Delle Donne, who was honored as the Naismith, McDonald's and Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2008, scored a Delaware freshman-record 35 points and had a double-double with 10 rebounds. None of her teammates, however, reached double digits in points and Princeton led wire to wire.
The Tigers had four players in double figures, led by Addie Micir's 18 points with Lauren Edwards and Niveen Rasheed chipping in 14 apiece. Laura Johnson joined the over-10 crew with 11 points, and the only member of the starting five who didn't reach 10 points, Devona Allgood, controlled the glass with nine boards.
Princeton (3-0) jumped out to a 13-0 lead on buckets by Micir, Johnson and Edwards. Delaware (1-1) was behind by 11 at 25-14 with 7:17 before the break, but scored the next nine points to make it a 25-23 game. The Hens got no closer, however, and the Princeton lead was back up to 10 at 49-39 with less than 14 minutes left in the contest.
The Tigers' biggest lead of the night came courtesy of a Rasheed bucket at the 8:02 mark of the second half, putting Princeton ahead by 17 at 62-45. Delaware came within 64-59 with 2:21 to play, but Princeton scored the last four points.
Princeton came out firing, hitting 14 of 28 attempts in the first half before finishing with a 48.2 shooting percentage (27 for 56), bettering Delaware's 36.4 percent clip. That made the difference in a game where Princeton won the rebounding battle 35-33 and had fewer turnovers, committing 15 to Delaware's 20.
Princeton's 3-0 start is its first since the 1995-96 season, the first of Princeton's two 20-win campaigns in program history with the second coming four years ago along with a share of the 2006 Ivy League title.
The Tigers will hit the road for the Thanksgiving holiday with a visit to Southern California. Wednesday will see Princeton take on UCLA, while the Tigers will head south for a Friday game against UC Irvine.