Delle Donne is injured as Hens easily beat Towson, 72-49

Despite losing Elena Delle Donne late in the first half due to an elbow injury, women's basketball head coach Tina Martin earned her 250th victory Thursday night, as her squad tromped Towson 72-49.  

"My assistant coaches do a great job," Martin said. "I've had a lot of great players. I've had some really good people who have helped me along the way."

The first half was all Delle Donne, until she sustained an injury to her right elbow.She came out of the locker room late in the second half to cheer on her team with medical tape wrapped around her elbow.

She is expected to return in time for the Hens' next game.

But Thursday, Martin was reluctant to risk Delle Donne's health.

"She didn't have any feeling in her hand," Martin said. "Obviously, it's scary when that kind of thing happens. She is starting, now, to get some feeling back. Certainly, I'm not going to put her back in the game, regardless of the outcome, whether we win or lose."

In the first half, Delle Donne was electric. She was 6-9 from the field, including two 3-point shots, and perfect from the free throw line, shooting 4-4. She had 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Towards, the end of the half, she attempted a layup, but was charged for an offensive foul. After the play, Delle Donne clenched her right arm. 

"Somebody hit her elbow," Martin said. "She's not sure if it was on the play where she got fouled. She said she either hit on somebody's shoulder, or someone hit her."

Delle Donne's absence in the second half allowed for some strong performances off the bench. Delaware had a solid 10 point lead going into half time, but the play of junior forward Ariene Jenkins, who only played in the second half, added a comfortable cushion to the Hens' lead.

"I feel like I brought a lot of energy to the floor," Jenkins said. "With my teammates, I talk a lot; we were talking on defense. I feel like we were really moving it."

In 14 minutes of play, Jenkins scored 10 points and also had 4 rebounds.

"It feels great," Jenkins said.

Sophomore guard Jocelyn Bailey also had a great second half, scoring all of her 10 points in the half, along with 7 rebounds.

"Coach needed me to step up in the second half with Elena being out," Bailey said. "I think the team just rallied around each other. We had to keep the momentum up, keep the energy up."

The second half proved that Delaware has many weapons besides Delle Donne, who ranks third in the nation in points per game with 25.4 after Thursday's victory. Freshmen Lauren Carra, who didn't start the game, had 14 points, including 3-4 from beyond the ark, and redshirt freshmen Danielle Parker added 10 points and 9 rebounds to the cause.

Five Delaware players reached double digits in points.

"I thought [Jocelyn] really did a nice job for us tonight," Martin said. "On the boards, playing through being tired, and Kayla [Miller] kept us under control. Overall, a very good team effort."

Delaware plays at Drexel on Sunday. It should be an intense battle as the two teams played a tough, double-overtime game less than two weeks ago at the Bob Carpenter Center.