Kansas tops Hens
Delaware women's basketball team falls to Kansas in NCAA tournament
9:32 p.m., March 20, 2012--The University of Delaware women's basketball team fell 70-64 to Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Division I championship tournament in a game played Tuesday night in Little Rock, Ark.
UD junior All-American Elena Delle Donne had 34 points, Trumae Lucas had eight and Lauren Carra had seven. Delle Donne, Danielle Parker and Jocelyn Bailey had 10 rebounds each.
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Angel Goodrich had 27 points for Kansas.
Kansas moves on to the Sweet 16, and will face traditional powerhouse Tennessee on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Delaware advanced to the second round with a history-making 73-42 victory over the host University of Arkansas Little Rock on Sunday. It was the first post-season win ever for the team.
The Hens had just two losses -- to Maryland and Kansas -- and finished a remarkable season with a record of 31-2. They were ranked as high as No. 7 in the Associated Press poll, went 18-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association and won the conference tournament and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
"With this group, we will be back," said Delaware 16th-year head coach Tina Martin, who led her team to the NCAA tournament for the third time. "This group is the best team that I've ever coached. Its disappointing, no doubt about that, but at the same time, it's satisfying to get that first win since we had never done that before."
Martin said the loss was a result of the Hens' defense. "This team does get that we have to be a defensive-oriented type of group, but tonight, that's what let us down. What we didn't do on the defensive end was very uncharacteristic of us."
"Defense has been our thing all season, so when that failed us, things went wrong tonight," said Delle Donne, who finished a record-breaking season as the nation's leading scorer and surpassed the 900-point mark. "We felt great going into the half. I thought we played solid defense and then unfortunately, in that first four-minute segment, they came out and scored a quick six points and it all went downhill from there. The coaches told us how we needed to defend them, and we didn't do it."
"I'm looking forward to coaching this group again next year," said Martin. "lt's been a great ride for all of us because of the players involved. When you have players with great character, its fun to coach them."
"This really has been a dream season and a dream team," said Delle Donne. "The thing we're most disappointed about is it being over and especially saying goodbye to our seniors."
"I think this season has prepared us for next season," said Parker."It's given us an idea of the goals we want to accomplish for next year. We want to go further, and do the same thing, but do even more next year."
For more on the Hens, see BlueHens.com.
Photo coverage can be found at UD in Photos.
Photos by Mark Campbell