NEWARK, Del. – Elena Delle Donne scored 35 points and No. 9 Delaware won its 16th straight game with a 89-71 victory over Northeastern on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Blue Hens (26-1, 17-0 Colonial Athletic Association) tied the school record for victories in a season. With one game remaining on the schedule, Delaware is also trying to become the first CAA team since 2002 to finish the regular season unbeaten in conference.
The country's leading scorer at 28.1 points per game, Delle Donne scored 30 or more points for the 11th time this season. The 6-foot-5 junior hit 14 of 24 shots from the floor while adding seven rebounds.
The Hens also got 18 points from junior Lauren Carra, who hit four 3-pointers.
Northeastern (7-21 overall, 5-12 CAA), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, was led by 20 points from Jewel Tunstall and 17 from Deanna Kerkhof. The Huskies hit 9-of-26 three-point shots in the contest, including four from Kerkhof.
After trailing by as many as 23 points early in the second half, the Huskies cut Delaware's lead to as little as 77-66 on Dani Iervoline's 3-pointer with five minutes remaining. The Hens, though, tallied 12 of the game's final 17 points to close out the win.
Behind Delle Donne's 19 first-half points, Delaware opened up a 47-30 halftime advantage. Northeastern held an 8-4 lead to start the contest when two of its first three field goals were three-pointers.
After an opening seven-minute stretch that included four lead changes, the Hens took the lead for good at 13-12 on a Delle Donne putback with 12:19 left That basket started a 19-5 run for Delaware that left it with a 32-17 lead.
The Hens have now won 21 straight meetings with the Huskies to lead the all-time series by a 28-10 margin.
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