University of Delaware Women's Basketball: 2000

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America East Semifinals
Delaware 50, Hartford 47

March 9, 2001

Rible Comes Up Big Again as Hens Hold Off Hawks for Title Game Berth

Christina Rible

BURLINGTON, VT -- Junior forward Christina Rible had her second big game of the tournament, scoring 17 points and pulling nine rebounds as the University of Delaware held off a Hartford charge to post a 50-47 victory in the America East women's basketball tournament semifinals Friday night at the University of Vermont's Patrick Gymnasium.

The No. 1 seed Blue Hens, who cruised to their 19th win in the last 20 games, improved to 25-4 and advanced to their first ever America East championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. vs. host Vermont. The No. 3 seed Catamounts, the only team to defeat the Hens in conference play this season, advanced with a 81-61 semifinal victory over No. 2 Drexel Friday night.

The Hens, who have set a school record for victories, will be making their first ever America East title game appearance since joining the league in 1992-93. The Hens last won a conference title in 1991 as members of the East Coast Conference but have never advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The winner of Saturday's Delaware-Vermont game will earn an automatic berth to the tournament.

"This is a great win for our program," said Delaware head coach Tina Martin. "We are thrilled to be in the conference final for the first time ever. Our kids worked hard and they earned it."

Rible, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the 67-48 quarterfinal victory Thursday, hit on 8 of 16 shots from the field for 17 points and played all but one minute. The leading rebounder in America East at 10.8 per game, she upped her season total to 310 to break the UD single season mark of 303 set by Colleen McNamara in 1993-94.

Cindy Johnson added 12 points and Danielle Leyfert added 11 points for the Blue Hens, who opened up a 32-19 halftime lead but had to hold off No. 5 seed Hartford. The Hawks (15-14) got 14 points and 13 rebounds from Kenitra Johnson but were hurt by 23 turnovers. Hartford connected on just 3 of 18 three-pointers and on 4 of 11 free throws. The 47 points was the second lowest allowed by Delaware this season.

Delaware, which blocked a tournament record nine shots, overcame a poor shooting second half in which the Hens converted on 7 of 26 shots from the field (.269). The 13-point halftime cushion proved to be just enough.

The Hawks used an 8-0 run at the start of the second half to make it, 32-27, with 12:19 remaining. The Blue Hens were able to maintain their advantage of at least five points until Dorcas Miller of Hartford drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 50-47, with 0:28 left. Delaware's Leyfert missed two front-ends of one-and-one's, but Hartford missed two late three-point attempts to tie, including one at the buzzer.

AGATE:

OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S Hartford vs Delaware 3/9/01 6 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium, Burlington, VT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Hartford 15-14 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 10 LLOYD, Candace f 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 4 2 1 0 2 16 21 LOPP, Janeka f 3 11 0 2 0 0 1 7 8 2 6 2 5 1 4 24 42 ELEAZER, Cheri c 3 6 0 2 0 4 0 1 1 2 6 1 3 0 2 27 22 MILLER, Dorcas g 3 13 2 8 1 2 1 1 2 2 9 1 1 0 2 34 35 JOHNSON, Kenitra g 6 10 0 0 2 3 4 9 13 3 14 1 4 2 0 29 03 AUSTIN, Ernestine 1 4 0 2 0 0 1 5 6 1 2 2 1 0 0 22 04 CHARLES, Kelly Ann 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 4 5 2 1 1 6 0 1 17 24 MURRAY, Bridget 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 33 FRANKS, Jamisen 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 9 34 WHALEN, Anne 2 9 1 4 0 0 4 3 7 2 5 0 0 0 0 17 TEAM ........................................ 1 0 1 TOTALS 20 59 3 18 4 11 13 31 44 17 47 11 23 3 12 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-30 .267 2nd Half: 12-29 .414 Game: .339 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1- 5 .200 2nd Half: 2-13 .154 Game: .167 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 2- 6 .333 2nd Half: 2- 5 .400 Game: .364 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Delaware 25-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 33 LEYFERT, Danielle f 3 9 0 0 5 8 2 6 8 1 11 2 3 1 2 37 40 RIBLE, Christina f 8 16 0 0 1 1 1 8 9 2 17 0 5 1 3 39 54 COLE, Christine c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 19 11 DELLEGROTTI, Megan g 0 2 0 1 2 2 0 2 2 0 2 5 3 0 1 31 22 JOHNSON, Cindy g 5 16 0 0 2 2 0 3 3 1 12 2 4 1 2 37 03 TRAPP, Allison 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 04 TIMMINS, Carrie 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 8 43 DAVIS, Lindsay 1 5 0 1 0 0 1 4 5 2 2 0 1 1 1 8 50 HOWELL, Tracey 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 1 4 0 2 3 1 18 TEAM ........................................ 0 2 2 1 TOTALS 20 53 0 2 10 14 6 29 35 11 50 10 19 9 11 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 .481 2nd Half: 7-26 .269 Game: .377 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0- 1 .000 2nd Half: 0- 1 .000 Game: .000 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 6- 7 .857 2nd Half: 4- 7 .571 Game: .714 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICIALS: John Palermo, Bonita Spence, Kathy Lynch TECHNICAL FOULS: Hartford - none Delaware - none ATTENDANCE: na SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL Hartford 19 28 47 Delaware 32 18 50 America East Semifinals....

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