NEWARK, DE -- Senior guard Tyresa Smith and junior forward Courtney Irving (at right) each scored career-highs and combined for 44 points and 21 rebounds in leading the University of Delaware women’s basketball team to a come from behind 68-63 win over Villanova Sunday afternoon in both team’s season opener at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Smith, an All-American candidate from Dover, DE (Polytech), deposited 27 points and pulled 11 rebounds for her sixth career double-double and Irving (Hockessin, DE) reached career highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds and posted her first career double-double as the Blue Hens (1-0) overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to pick up the victory.

The Hens have now won 13 straight non-league regular season games at the Bob Carpenter Center since the 2003-04 season and the victory over Villanova was the team’s first in four all-time meetings with the Wildcats. Chrissy Fisher added eight points and nine rebounds for the Hens, who held a commanding 47-29 advantage on the boards, while first-year William & Mary transfer Kyle DeHaven dished out a game-high seven assists and scored eight points in her Blue Hen debut.

Villanova (0-1) got 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists from senior forward Jackie Adamshick while Lisa Karcic added 14 points, Maria Getty chipped in with 12 points, and Stacie Witman had four points and pulled a team-high eight rebounds.

Delaware scored the first basket of the game but Villanova took over from there, leading the rest of the stanza to take a 36-27 lead at the break. The Hens cut the lead to 20-19 with 8:45 left, but Villanova scored 11 of the next 13 points to take a 31-21 lead and took the nine-point advantage into intermission when Adamshick nailed a three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the half.

The Blue Hens, who outscored Villanova 41-27 in the second stanza, chipped away at the lead in the second half and finally tied it up at 47-47 on a Smith jumper in the lane with 10:44 left and took the lead for good moments later on two Irving free throws. Delaware outscored Villanova 10-0 over a span of four minutes to go up 55-47 with 7:15 remaining and led the rest of the way. The Wildcats missed eight straight shots at one point down the stretch before a jumper by Witman cut the lead to 59-54 with 3:46 to go.

Adamshick hit two free throws with 1:54 left to cut the Delaware lead to 61-59, but Irving answered with a free throw to increase the lead to three. Villanova’s Tia Grant followed with a jumper with 1:30 left to narrow the deficit to 62-61, but DeHaven followed with a free throw 15 seconds later and Smith converted a conventional three-point play with 29 seconds left to up the margin to 66-61.

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