Nov. 13, 2015 Box Score | Photo Gallery
NEWARK, Del. - A deep Delaware squad drove past Lafayette, 67-47, in the teams' season opener on Friday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
The game marked the Lafayette head coaching debut for Theresa Grentz who served as a Lafayette assistant coach last season before assuming the head coaching reins for the first time since her retirement from the University of Illinois in 2006-07.
"There were moments of greatness, where we did some terrific things and executed what we wanted," Grentz said. "I thought we played some very good defense at times against a very athletic team, but their athleticism has to be matched by our ability to make shots. We couldn't do that tonight, but we'll make that happen in the future."
Lafayette had three players in double figures led by Jamie O'Hare with 14. Anna Ptasinski added 11 points and Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby had 10, despite playing much of the second half with four fouls. Those three, plus fellow starters Sammy Stipa and Ashley Lutz, each played more than 30 minutes with four of five playing 35 minutes or more.
"Harriett, Anna, Sammy are three brand new players to the starting lineup with Ashley and Jamie. That unit is going to get better," Grentz said. "They're working together in practice and other players are going to be able to give them a break."
The game was fairly even throughout the first half, highlighted by 10 lead changes and five ties. Delaware closed out the first half on an 8-0 run over the final three and a half minutes when Lafayette committed four turnovers. Back-to-back buckets by Stipa gave Lafayette a 23-21 lead with 3:33 left in the half. Delaware's Nicole Enabosi had a pair of layups and her steal led to another by Courtni Green for the 29-23 Blue Hen halftime margin. Green finished the night with a game-high 19 points off the bench while Enabosi added 11 points and 10 boards.
In the second half, Delaware continued to apply the defensive pressure, holding Lafayette to 30 percent shooting from the floor and 21 percent from three-point land. The Blue Hens, who went seven deep throughout the game, extended their lead to 41-31 with 3:45 left in the third quarter when Jodi Salyer hit a three-pointer. Ptasinski answered with a three ball of her own on the next possession.
An O'Hare layup with 48 seconds left in the period again cut the deficit to seven, 43-36. Delaware took control for good through the end of the third and into the fourth, putting together a 7-0 run on four free throws and a Hannah Jardine three just 35 seconds into the fourth. Delaware led 50-36. O'Hare hit a three on the next possession and Ptasinski took an O'Hare assist with 6:32 left in the game and hit another three ball to cut the deficit to 11. Erika Brown layups on consecutive possessions pushed Delaware to a 60-46 advantage with 5:47 left and the Blue Hens stretched the final margin to 20.
Lafayette held its own the glass, grabbing 34 rebounds as did the Blue Hens. Ottewill-Soulsby and Lutz had eight apiece and the team finished with 12 offensive boards. Lafayette turned the ball over 22 times while forcing 15.
Lafayette travels to Penn on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Palestra.