TOWSON, Md. – Thursday afternoon the Towson University women's basketball team will face Delaware in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship. After a three-way tie for third place in the end of the regular season, the Tigers are fourth seeded and the Blue Hens are fifth seeded.
 
This will be the second time facing Delaware in seven days, after taking the team on at home last Thursday night. The game will be streamed on CAATV.com while Towson Sports Network will have radio with Ben Rosenbaum on the call.
 
Last Time Out
The Tigers are coming off a tough loss to Drexel at home on Saturday afternoon. Towson was led by junior Nukiya Mayo with 10 points. At the half the Dragons led by two, but a third quarter fueled by free throws and low scoring from the home team led to a deficit the Tigers could not catch up to.
 
The Delaware Series
The Blue Hens hold the series lead, 56-22. This season Towson took its first win over Delaware in Newark since 2008 and the first win over the Blue Hens since 2015. Delaware has won six of the last seven games and is 29-9 when at home. While this is a neutral site event, the game is going to be played at the Blue Hens home gym.
 
Last Time Against Delaware
Last Thursday the Tigers fell to Delaware at home 70-57. Seniors Dani Durjan and Maia Lee led the home team with 15 points and 17 rebounds respectively. The Blue Hens led by 10 at half and Towson came out in the third to tie it up with 4:10 left in the period. Back and forth scoring continued until the Blue Hens tied the game with 8:48 to go and did not let off the gas, taking a 13-point lead.
 
Scouting the Tigers
Towson enters the game following a historic season, finishing 17-12 for the first winning season since 2011-12. The Tigers are averaging 68.1 points per game, led by redshirt sophomore Kionna Jeter with 17.3 points per game. Junior Nukiya Mayo is the team's second leading scorer, with 14.3 points per game and leads the team in rebounds with 7.6 per game.
 
Scouting the Blue Hens
Delaware enters the game coming off a loss to James Madison on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Hens average 61.9 points per game, led by Samone DeFreese with 10.8 points per game. Jasmine Dickey leads the team in rebounds with 8.3 per game while Abby Gonzales leads the team in assists with 3.1 per game. Gonzales received the prestigious Dean Ehler's Award in the CAA's postseason awards.
 
Richardson CAA Coach of the Year
With the most postseason awards collected by a Towson women's basketball team, head coach Diane Richardson was named CAA Coach of the Year. Kionna Jeter was named to the All-CAA First Team, Nukiya Mayo to the All-CAA Second Team and Janeen Camp to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Jeter and Mayo were both named to the CAA All-Defensive Team. This was Towson's first Coach of the Year award since joining the CAA. Richardson completed her second season of being a head coach at Towson after guiding her team to a third-place conference finish and earning a first-round bye at the league tournament.
 
Historic Regular Season
The 2018-19 season had plenty to talk about. From setting an attendance record for women's basketball in SECU Arena with near 3,500 fans, to finishing the season ranked second in the nation in blocks per game with 6.5, the Tigers accomplished a lot. The 17 wins are the most since the 2008-09 season, finishing third in the CAA is the best finish Towson has had since joining the conference. In the CAA Preseason Poll the Tigers were voted to finish eighth and at one point in the season actually took first place.
 
Turnaround Year
With a 17-12 record, Towson has almost doubled the amount of wins from last year. As of Monday afternoon that was the 14^th-best turnaround in the nation by an NCAA women's basketball team. Towson swept three conference opponents in Hofstra, Charleston and Elon. The Tigers also had their best home record in two years and saw the most wins in conference action since 2007-08. Only seven Towson teams have recorded 17 or more wins.
 
Conference Highlights
For several weeks this year, Towson led the league in scoring while Kionna Jeter led the league in scoring for a majority of the season. Jeter was the CAA's leader in steals, averaging 2.5 per game. Her season-high seven steals against Hofstra are the fourth most by CAA a player this season. The Tigers' two games with 12 blocks are tied for the second most by a team this year, while 40 free throw attempts against LaSalle are first in by a team in the league. Jeter's 32 points against the explorer's are the fifth most by a player this season. Janeen Camp's six blocks at Marshall are the fourth most by a player this year.
 
Towson in National Statistics
The Tigers remain second in the nation in blocks per game while third in the nation in total blocks with 187. Towson is fifth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 17. In total rebounds per game the Tigers are 16^th with 42.79 per game.
 
Tigers in the Community
In February the men's and women's basketball teams paired up in support of Autism Awareness and hosted a clinic with the Hussman Center. On Wednesday the teams hosted adults with autism in SECU Arena to work on footwork, shooting and passing, and play some games. The event prefaced the two Autism Games hosted by Towson over the weekend, part of Autism Speaks Coaches Powering Forward. Click here to see a full recap and photos of the events.
 
CAA Championship Tickets on Sale
Ticket books remain on sale for the CAA Championship hosted by the University of Delaware. The championship runs March 13-16 at the Bob Carpenter Center. For a full ticket both in the section behind Towson's bench, please contact Scott Casten for more information. Ticket books start at $35 for general admission through the Delaware box office. Single game tickets begin at $8 and students who attend CAA schools receive free admission with a student ID.