February 8, 2009

HOLLINGSWORTH TALLIES 1,000 REBOUNDS AS RAMS GET BY DELAWARE, 70-63
Senior finishes with 15 points and eight rebounds
Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – Senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) has never been one to be concerned about the stat sheet.

Therefore, the bigger deal to the frontcourt star was not that she became the first player in Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball history, but the fact that the Rams were able to grind out a tough 70-63 defensive battle over the Fightin’ Blue Hens of the University of Delaware on Sunday afternoon in Colonial Athletic Association action.

”Any time a player scores 1,000 and gets 1,000 rebounds in a career it’s a very significant accomplishment, there aren’t many players that are able to do that,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham said. “She has just meant so much to the program over the years and we’ve been able to bring in a lot of talented players to surround her over the years and make this program what it is today.”

Hollingsworth finished the day with eight rebounds to give her 1,006 for her career to go along with her 1,444 points. She is first women’s basketball player to join that club and only the third Ram ever to do it along with Kendrick Warren and Lorenza Watson on the men’s side.

“It’s nice to have the stats and all, but I want to win,” Hollingsworth said. “I’ve never been one to be focused on what the stats say. My teammates and I just want to do something that has never been done before at VCU and that’s to win a championship.”

The Black & Gold sit in prime position to accomplish that goal with a 19-4 mark and a 9-2 record in conference play, good enough for a three-way tie atop the CAA standings with James Madison and Drexel. Delaware drops its second straight to fall to 11-11 on the year and 3-8 in conference action.

“We were faced with several difficult challenges today and I thought Delaware played really well today,” Cunningham said. “In the face of adversity, I’m proud of how our kids responded when they needed to. A sign of a good team is finding ways to get it done and that’s what we did today. We showed a lot of toughness when at times we could have folded. I’m very proud of the leadership our upperclassmen showed today.”

Junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) made sure that the Rams offense got off to a strong start scoring nine of VCU’s first 11 points to claim an 11-3 advantage at the 17:10 mark of the first half.

Tesia Harris, Delaware’s leading scorer, would answer right back nine straight points for the Fightin’ Blue Hens to tie the game at 12-12 with 13:23 to play before halftime.

A lay-up by Hollingsworth and four points from freshman Jennifer Lane (Wichita, Kan.) gave the Black & Gold a 23-15 advantage with just under 10 minutes on the first half clock.

The Fightin’ Blue Hens took advantage of some VCU foul trouble knocking down five straight from the charity stripe and Harris drilled another three-pointer from the corner to give Delaware its first lead of the game at 24-23.

A jumper from Hollingsworth and an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman Courtney Hurt (Conyers, Ga.) (left) reclaimed the lead for the Rams at 30-26 with 1:42 to play.

Jocelyn Bailey connected on a jumper and Corinthia Benson picked up two points from the foul line as the teams headed into the locker rooms with the score tied at 30-30.

Vanessa Kabongo came out firing in the second half with six points in the first 1:30 of the second half to give Delaware its biggest lead of the day at 36-31 with 18:23 to play.

Junior La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C.) and Hollingsworth chipped in six straight points as VCU reclaimed a brief 37-36 advantage with 17:11 remaining in regulation.

Delaware continued to grind it out on both ends and another pull-up jumper from Kabongo gave the Fightin’ Blue Hens a 53-48 lead with 9:40 to play in the contest.

The Black & Gold would not give up as it got quality minutes down the stretch from Hurt and junior Stephanie Solomon (Las Vegas, Nev.) as a jumper from senior Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) capped off a 13-3 VCU run to give the Rams a 61-56 lead with under four minutes to play.

VCU would go 6-of-8 from the charity stripe over the final minute to preserve a much deserved 70-63 road victory.

Balance was the key once again as both Hollingsworth and Rorie led the way with 15 apiece, while Waller finished with 14 points and Bachvarova rounded out the double-figurer scorers with 11.

Hurt came off the bench to chip in seven points and grab eight rebounds in just 21 minutes. Rorie added six boards and five steals, while Lane finished with seven points, six rebounds and four assists.

”I thought Tavia really had a tremendous second half for us, and we needed it,” Cunningham said. “I’m really proud of the way she stepped up after I challenged her at the half. She easily could have buried her head and packed it in, but she hung tough and came up huge down the stretch. It just shows the selflessness that this team possesses.”

Harris led all scorers with 21 points, while Benison added 18 points and Kabongo finished with 14 in the losing effort.

The Rams are back in action for a second straight televised contest against the Tigers of Towson University on Thursday evening. Game time in Towson, Md. is set for 7 p.m.