Nov. 20, 2005

WASHINGTON - Binding defense and 24 points from forward Chrissy Fisher helped the University of Delaware come away from Bender Arena with a 64-38 victory over American on Sunday afternoon.

Down by 12 to start the second half, American put on a press, capitalizing off of four Delaware turnovers to go on a 7-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half. The Blue Hens took some of the momentum back and held a 37-25 lead with 14:30 showing on the clock. Delaware opened their largest lead of the half, 14 points, with just under 11 minutes to play in regulation.

AU tried to comeback against the Blue Hens but Delaware's defense forced the Eagles to take poor shots with the shot-clock expiring on many of the home team's trips down the floor. Down the stretch the Eagles were not able to close in on the lead, ultimately losing by 26.

American started slowly out of the gate, going down 7-0 before scoring their first points at the 15:01 mark. American battled back scoring six straight to creep within one, but the Blue Hens reopened their lead on a Fisher three pointer. Delaware went on a 5-2 run before a Nicole Ryan (Safety Harbor, Fla.Clearwater) and Tala Hadavi (Uppsala, Sweden/Vasalundsskolan) hit back-to-back three pointers to put the Eagles back 15-14. The Blue Hens closed out the first half outscoring the Eagles 13-4, to go into the locker room up 28-16. Fisher led all scorers at the half with nine.

Junior Abby Lipskis (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk) led the Eagles with 12 points and nine rebounds. Hadavi finished with eight points, playing in all 40 minutes for the Eagles.

The Eagles could not contain Fisher, who finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Tyresa Smith finished with 11 points and three blocks on the day for the Blue Hens.

American falls to 0-2 on the season, while Delaware stays undefeated on the season with a 2-0 mark. AU shot a dismal 22.6 percent from the floor and committed 23 turnovers in the game.

AU will look for their first win of the season on Friday, November 25, when they travel down to Miami, Fla. to play in the Florida International University Tournament. American will take on BIG EAST opponent Seton Hall at 7 p.m. on Friday.