Delaware star nearly matches Elena Delle Donne's mark, as Hens fall to Maryland in NCAAs

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – If the University of Delaware was going to lose, it was going to happen with Jasmine Dickey shooting until her arms fell off from exhaustion.

Dickey, the second-leading scorer in UD history, had earned that right. She was third in the nation in scoring, averaging 25.1 points per game, and the Hens depended on her for everything.

So Dickey didn't let a slow start stop her. She kept shooting, scoring 31 points in all.

It wasn't enough as the No. 13 seed Hens fell 102-71 to the No. 4 University of Maryland in the Spokane Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

But it wasn't quite the blowout that the final score indicated. UD was within nine points with 6:30 left in the third quarter at 55-46 when Dickey scored on a drive to the basket.

At that point, Dickey had scored 21 straight Delaware points.

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Maryland, ranked No. 13 nationally, then went on a 17-3 run to take a 23-point lead and put the game away.

"This stings," UD coach Natasha Adair said. "It's not how we wanted to go out. We don't want this one loss to take away from a phenomenal season."

And really, it shouldn't.

The Terps sent waves of players 6 feet and taller at the 5-10 Dickey, doubling her when she tried to set up near the basket and chasing her all over the floor.

Dickey was undaunted. She kept firing, taking 32 shots in all, making 12.

Dickey needed 50 points to reach the 2,000-point mark for her career, a mark eclipsed in UD history only by Elena Delle Donne, with 3,039 points.

She ends her career with 1,981 points. She also became just the second UD player to score 30 or more points in an NCAA Tournament game. Delle Donne did it five times.

None of that mattered to Dickey.

Adair took her out of the game with about 1:40 remaining, giving Dickey the chance to get a standing ovation from the Delaware fans who traveled to the game. That included Delaware Sen. Tom Carper.

But Dickey wasn't taking that in. Rather, she hugged her coaches and teammates on the bench and watched as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

"What hit was was the loss," Dickey said about that final ovation. "But the team fought. We have a lot to celebrate even though we lost."

The Terps just had too much firepower, whether it was Angel Reese scoring inside, or Katie Benzen from the outside.

"When they're shooting 60% (actually, 59.4%), it's hard to guard when pretty much everything they put up went in," Adair said.

Maryland will move on to face No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday at a time to be determined. FGCU upset No. 5 Virginia Tech 84-81 earlier Friday.

Delaware's season ended at 24-8. They're 42-13 in the last two seasons under Adair. Last season, the Hens made it to the semifinals of the WNIT. This season, they made it to the NCAA Tournament.

As Dickey put it: "I wanted to leave my mark, and the team wanted to leave our mark. We put Delaware on the map."

Still, it was clear to see the difference in pedigrees and experience.

The Hens were playing in their first NCAA Tournament game since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2013 behind Donne.

The Terps were playing in the tournament for the 11th straight season. And they were battle tested this season, too. They played the seventh toughest schedule in the nation, and that included a win over perennial powerhouse Baylor.

They had guarded players like Dickey before. But it still wasn't easy. Diamond Miller, a 6-foot-3 guard, has covered many of the nation's top players. She compares Dickey favorably to them.

"She's definitely one of the top players that I have guarded this year," Miller said. "She's very talented. Her pull-up is lethal. You can't stop her, really. We just tried to contain her as best we could."

And their best defense was a dominating offense.

The Terps wasted little time in taking control as Reese used her height advantage early to score inside.

Dickey, meanwhile, was struggling early. She made just two of her first 12 shots as Maryland built an 11-point lead, 36-25, midway through the second quarter.

And then Dickey got going.

She pulled the Hens to within 9 points midway through the third quarter. Then the Terps responded with 12 straight points. And just like that, UD was down by 21 points.

But Dickey kept firing. The Hens had no choice because Maryland kept scoring. The Terps became the first team to score 100 or more points against Delaware since Maine did it in 1997.

It was evident that there's still a huge gap between the Hens and a school like Maryland. The Terps have five players who average at least 10.5 points per game, and they're built to contend for national championships behind head coach Brenda Frese, who has won more than 500 games in her 23 seasons at Maryland.

So it's easy to see why the Terps have won all 15 meetings between the two schools in their history.

That includes two wins during Delle Donne's time at UD when the Hens got as far as the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

But the Hens weren't intimidated, either. They fell behind by 8 in the first quarter, but there was Paris McBride blocking Reese's shot underneath the basket.

And there was Makayla Pippin scoring to get the Hens to within 6 later on in the quarter.

And there was Dickey, firing away until she was taken out with 1:40 left, a fitting end to a glorious career that ended in the tournament that the Hens always wanted to be in.

Dickey made that happen.

"When this (loss) dies down, and that this little sting goes away, we're gonna celebrate and party," Adair said. "Because there's so much to be proud of."

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: NCAA women: Jasmine Dickey scores 31, Delaware falls to Maryland