WILMINGTON, NC -- The University of Delaware women’s basketball team came up with its best defensive effort of the season as the Blue Hens held UNC Wilmington to just 38 points and forced 29 turnovers on the way to a 66-38 Colonial Athletic Association victory at Trask Coliseum Sunday afternoon.

The victory was the most lopsided of the season for the Blue Hens (12-2, 3-0 CAA), who won their second straight game and were winners for the 11th time in the last 12 outings. Delaware, which won its sixth straight regular season conference game, is off to a 3-0 start in league play for the second time in the last three years. The Hens have now defeated UNC Wilmington 10 times in 13 all-time meetings.

Tyresa Smith led three Blue Hen scorers in double figures with 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field to go with seven rebounds while Alena Koshansky (at right; photo by Paul Bourke) added 12 points and four steals, and Courtney Irving contributed 10 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and five steals. Kyle DeHaven also posted a game-high six steals.

Host UNC Wilmlington, which defeated the Hens 55-41 last year at home, lost for the fifth time in the last six games to fall to 5-8 (1-1 CAA). The Seahawks, who entered the game last in the CAA in scoring with a 53.2 point per game average, could not even match that as they shot just 30.8 percent from the field (12 of 39) for a season-low 38 points. UNC Wilmington has now been held to 50 or less points seven times this season. The Seahawks hit just 5 of 23 second half shots from the field.

Lori Drake was the lone Seahawk scorer in double figures with 14 points and nine rebounds but no other player scored more than seven points. Becca Papach came off the bench to contribute nine rebounds.

Delaware jumped out to a 31-19 halftime lead and never looked back in posting the easy win. The Hens recorded 22 steals - the third time this season that they posted 20 or more thefts - and connected on four of eight three-pointers to overcome a 41-34 deficit on the boards. The 38 points were the lowest total allowed by the Blue Hens since posting a 66-35 victory over Virginia Commonwealth last Jan. 29 at the Bob Carpenter Center.

“Over the years, we have had some major battles with this team (UNC Wilmington),” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, who won her 201st game at Delaware. “Last year we were out of sync in our game down here and they beat us. We didn’t play well and did a lot of things poorly. I told our team today that this game was all about pride and that I wanted us to go out and show what kind of team we have. I wanted us to step on the floor and play good basketball and I thought we did that today. Our ball movement was good and in the second half we got on a roll. I really feel good about our effort. We stepped up and showed the way we are capable of playing.”

The Hens jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes and never trailed. UNC Wilmington cut the lead to 19-17 on a Drake three-pointer with 5:13 left, but Delaware closed the half on a 12-2 run, including a three-pointer by Koshansky, to take control. The Hens outscored UNC Wilmington 23-7 over the first half of the second stanza to up the lead to 30 points and never led by less than 15 points the entire period.

Delaware now heads home for three straight CAA games at home at the Bob Carpenter Center beginning with a Jan. 11 game vs. Northeastern at 7 p.m.

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