Delaware sophomore guard Tyi Skinner helped propel the Blue Hens to victory over the No. 3 Towson Tigers by making two free throws with 0.4 seconds left.
BY
Managing Sports Editor
Four tenths of a second were left on the clock, and with a championship berth on the line, Tyi Skinner made the two most important free throws of her young career as Blue Hen.
“I take those shots everyday in practice,” Skinner said in a postgame press conference. “I make them, I’m a really good shooter, so I got to make free shots.”
The sophomore guard put Delaware up 56-55 with under a second remaining to seal the semifinal victory over No. 3 Towson and clinch a berth in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship versus No. 1 Drexel .
In a tight affair, the Blue Hens and head coach Natasha Adair found themselves down one with eight seconds remaining after Towson guard Tarriyonna Gary drilled a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 55-54 edge.
On the ensuing possession, Delaware senior forward Ty Battle made a drive to the basket but came up empty-handed with her shot as the buzzer sounded. Towson players and fans celebrated, but simultaneously, an official declared a foul by Gary after she bumped into Skinner while both players went for the rebound.
With the Tigers over the foul limit, Skinner made true on the opportunity to put Delaware ahead. The Tigers had one more chance, but an inbounds lob was intercepted by Battle, clinching the dramatic win.
“Anything crazy can happen in March and you just have to embrace the moments,” Adair said after the game. “I thought that today from start to finish, our players made the extra plays, played together, made the hustle plays.”
Adair and the Blue Hens will be playing their second consecutive conference title matchup against Drexel, whom they fell to last year 63-52. Meanwhile, Towson head coach Diane Richardson expressed frustration with the controversial foul call and ending.
“I’m disappointed, I thought my team was the better team [and] I thought we had won the game,” Richardson said. “The ticks had gone off the clock and we were celebrating and then all of a sudden, they come back and say they had a whistle.”
In a defensive battle, Delaware edged out Towson in field goal percentage (37% to 34%) and rebounds (44 to 34). Senior guard/forward Jasmine Dickey led the way with 22 points and 16 rebounds, while Battle and senior guard Paris McBride chipped in 11 points.
Gary and sophomore guard Kylie Korneygay-Lucas paced Towson with 15 points apiece, while First Team All-CAA selection Aleah Nelson struggled on the day, scoring just five points on 1-of-13 shooting.
“We had to play with our feet, not our hands, and we had to give really good help defense,” Adair said of the team’s defense. “We defend, rebound, run and score in that order and when we get out of that order it gets a little messy.”
Saturday’s contest began with a quick burst from the Blue Hens, jumping out to an 8-2 lead on 4-of-4 shooting from the field from four different players. Dickey stretched the lead out to 20-12 with two jumpers. Towson’s Gary continued her shooting streak, though, bringing Towson within five points to end the quarter and scoring 12 of her team’s 17 points in the opening period.
While the first quarter proved to be a high-scoring affair, both offenses cooled off in the second period and beyond. In the second quarter alone, Delaware shot 4-of-14 from the field, while Towson went 4-of-18.
A late layup from graduate Lizzie Oleary thwarted a 7-0 Towson run and gave the Blue Hens a 30-27 advantage at the break. Of note, Dickey secured her 1,000th career rebound in the second quarter.
The third quarter mirrored the previous one with both offenses struggling out of the gate. Dickey kept Delaware’s offense going, though, with three two-point shots to give the Hens a 36-31 lead.
A third three-pointer from Towson’s sophomore forward Allie Kubek brought the margin to two, but the Hens pulled back out to a 42-38 lead to end the half thanks to a Battle layup and two baskets from senior guard Paris McBride.
However, turnovers plagued the Hens for much of the fourth quarter, allowing Towson to notch a 49-48 lead. An up-and-under layup by Battle broke a 50-all tie, and each team then traded two successful free throws to give Delaware the late 54-52 edge.
Gary’s clutch three-pointer was overshadowed by the late foul call and Skinner’s ensuing work from the charity stripe that helped the Blue Hens advance to Sunday’s tilt.
The Dragons have had the best of Delaware this season, beating them both in Newark and Philadelphia. Sunday is sure to feature a pro-Drexel crowd as the tournament is hosted at Drexel’s home court, the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
Dickey, McBride and Battle played all 40 minutes in the semifinal, while Oleary and Skinner each only received four minutes of rest. A quick turnaround will be imminent as tip-off for the title rematch is set for 1 p.m.
“We’re focused on playing Delaware basketball,” Adair said. “Right now we are playing excellent basketball and we’re playing together. This is the opportunity that we’ve been waiting on.”
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Skinner’s clutch free throws seal win over Towson, sends Blue Hens to championship rematch with Drexel - University of Delaware Review
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