PHILADELPHIA — The #3 seed Towson University women's basketball team will face #2 seed Delaware in the 2022 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Basketball Semifinals on March 12 at 3:30 p.m.
The Blue Hens have taken the last four meetings over the Tigers, including two this season on Feb. 9 (81-78) and March 3 (85-71). Delaware owns the 60-24 all-time edge over the Black & Gold. The teams are however even split at neutral sites, going 2-2.
Records
- Towson — 23-6 (14-4)
- Delaware — 22-7 (15-3)
2022 CAA Women's Basketball Championship Schedule
Saturday, March 12 | Semifinals
Game 6: #1 Drexel vs #5 Charleston – 1 p.m.
Game 7: #2 Delaware vs #3 Towson – 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 13 | Championship
Game 8: Winner Game 6 vs Winner Game 7 – 1 p.m.
Last Time Out
Towson outscored Northeastern 23-4 in the final quarter in the CAA Quarterfinals to come out with the 58-49 win.
Anissa Rivera led the team in the huge fourth quarter effort, netting eight of her 11 total points in the last 10 minutes of play. Tarriyonna Gary and Allie Kubek hit back-to-back three's to kick off the fourth period before Rivera took over, getting to the rim on three consecutive possessions to give the Tigers the ultimate lead.
Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, played a key role in the win with a full stat line of 11 points, five rebounds, and five steals. Aleah Nelson added a team-high 14 points as well as five rebounds. Gary rounded out the group with 10 points.
Rivera and Kubek paced the team off the glass with eight rebounds apiece.
CAA Postseason Honors
Just before the start of the 2022 CAA Women's Basketball Championship, three members of the Towson University women's basketball team have earned All-CAA honors.
Aleah Nelson was selected First Team All-CAA while Allie Kubek was picked to the All-CAA Third Team. Kylie Kornegay-Lucas was selected as the Sixth Player of the Year.
Richardson In The Tournament
Head coach Diane Richardson has found success in the CAA Tournament in her first five seasons in the league. After falling in her first slate to UNCW in the first round, Richardson and her team came back stronger than ever in the 2019 tournament to win the Championship. The Tigers ran the table as a #4 seed, defeating Delaware (59-49), Hofstra (69-48) and Drexel (53-49) for their first CAA Tournament Championship in program history.
After the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Towson dropped their first-round game in 2021 to Hofstra to end its season.
24 & Counting
With Towson's most recent win over Northeastern (March 11), the team reset the program record for most wins in a regular season with 24 victories. The previous high of 22 was set during the 2007-08 campaign.
Since arriving in Towson in 2017, head coach Diane Richardson has now garnered two 20-win seasons, as she led the 2018-19 squad to a 20-13 overall mark.
As the Towson men's team currently sits with a 25-8 overall record, it marks the first time in Towson's history both the men's and women's teams have reached 20+ wins in the same season.
Breaking Records
With six helpers against Drexel in the team's final game of the regular slate, Nelson broke the single season assist record with 156 total dimes. The previous high of 151 was set by Q. Murray during the 2019-2020 season.
Home Sweet Home
The Tigers ended the regular season with an 11-2 record in SECU Arena. The only losses have both come at the hands of Delaware (Feb. 9 and March 3). The team has reached over 70 points seven times and over 90 points on four occasions while at home.
Women's basketball is not the only team to find success while playing at SECU Arena this academic year, however, as men's basketball (12-2), gymnastics (12-2) and volleyball (17-1) have also dominated in front of a home crowd. All four teams are a combined 53-7 in SECU dating back to the beginning of the fall slate.
Coming Off The Bench
The Tigers have had a huge late season push off the bench, scoring double-digit points in the last 15 contests. Towson has recorded +30 points seven times this slate. The team posted a season-high 49 points off the bench against James Madison (Feb. 13), led by Anissa Rivera with a game-high 21 points and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas who added 20.
Towson has scored 611 total points off the bench this slate for 20.4 points per game.
Sweepin' Up
The Tigers have completed six season sweeps of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponents this season. The Black & Gold have earned two wins over William & Mary (Jan. 9 and Feb. 4), Elon (Jan. 7 and Feb. 6), James Madison (Jan. 16 and Feb. 13), UNCW (Jan. 23 and Feb. 18), Hofstra (Jan. 30 and Feb. 26) and Northeastern (Jan. 28 and Feb. 27).
Kornegay-Lucas Makes History
Kylie Kornegay Lucas' recorded a historic triple-double against Delaware (Feb. 9) with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The feat marks the first at Towson since 1993, when Tanya Belair did it against Winthrop (17p, 10r, 10s). Chris Pulaski did it when the team was Division II, amassing 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. It is also the first in the CAA since 2018 when Shay Burnett of Elon brought in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
D-FENSE!
The Black & Gold have held 14 opponents to under 35.5 percent shooting 16 times in a game this season. Towson kept Frostburg State (32.8 percent, 19-of-58), Florida (35.2 percent, 25-of-71), Wofford (30.2 percent, 19-of-63), Millersville (19.1 percent, 9-of-47), Howard (25.4 percent, 18-of-71), Delaware State (32.7 percent, 18-of-55), East Carolina (25.3 percent, 19-of-75), UMass Lowell (29.3 percent, 17-of-58), UNCW (32.2 percent, 19-of-59), Elon (33.9 percent, 21-of-62). Charleston (27.8 percent, 22-of-79) and Drexel (33.3 percent, 21-of-63) all below the mark. They held Hofstra under 33 percent shooting both times they met this season (26.7 percent, 16-of-60/32.8 percent, 21-of-64). The team also held Northeastern below the mark twice (35.3 percent, 24-of-68/28.3 percent, 17-of-60) When Towson holds its opponent below 34.9 percent shooting, they are 14-0.
The team has also held its opponents to less than 10 points in a quarter 16 times this season. The Tigers most recently held Northeastern to four points in the fourth quarter on March 11.
The black & gold have registered nine double-digit steal games, led by a season-high 18 takeaway performance against Millersville. Aleah Nelson leads the squad with 35 total steals.
Towson has generated 569 total points this season off turnovers, for 19.0 points per game. When the team registers more steals than their opponent, they are undefeated, 17-0.
Taking Care of the Ball
Towson has done an exceptional job of taking care of the ball this season, ranking fourth in the league with a 1.97 turnover margin. The team is also third in the CAA in assist/turnover ratio (0.96).
Floor general Aleah Nelson has also been careful with the rock, as she ranks 14th nationally and first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.60).
When the Tigers have fewer turnovers than their opposition, they are 19-0.
Prolific Scoring
At least two Tigers have cracked double figures in 29 of 30 outings so far this season. Nelson has now scored 10+ points in 28 of 30 contests including the last 15 outings.
Six Tigers have also registered +20 point performances in Nelson, Allie Kubek, Anissa Rivera, Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, Rayne Tucker and Tarriyonna Gary. Nelson and Kubek pace the squad with five games over 20 points apiece.
Towson has had two players score 20 or more points four times this season:
- James Madison - Jan. 16 (Kubek-28, Rivera-20)
- Northeastern - Jan. 28 (Nelson-24, Kubek-22)
- Delaware - Feb. 9 (Nelson-24, Kubek-20)
- James Madison - Feb. 13 (Rivera-21, Kornegay-Lucas-20)
Making Some Noise
Towson moved up again to No. 18 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, released March 8. The team was previously ranked No. 16.
BYU (24-2) remains in the top spot while Princeton (22-4), FGCU (27-2), South Dakota (23-5) and South Dakota State (25-9) complete the top five.
Drexel (24-4, 16-2) leads the CAA in the poll as they are slotted at No. 12. Delaware (21-7, 15-3) sits at No. 21.
The Black & Gold are still highest ranked CAA team in the NCAA NET rankings, sitting at No. 78. Drexel comes in at No. 84 followed by Delaware at No. 97.
Coming Home
Five of 14 student-athletes on Towson's roster represent their home state of Maryland. Aleah Nelson is the lone Baltimore native while Allie Kubek (Elkton), Ryann Evans (Columbia), Rayne Tucker (New Carrollton) and Anissa Rivera (Capitol Heights) are also from close by.
Crashing The Boards
As one of the top-10 rebounding teams in the country, the black & gold have grabbed 40+ boards in all but three contests so far this season, including the last 16 of 18 outings. The team has also reached 50+ rebounds on five occasions.
Towson has either won the fight off the glass or tied in 21 games.
Anissa Rivera currently leads the team, averaging 7.3 boards per contest.
Scouting The Blue Hens
After only dropping two conference contests during the 2021-22 season, Delaware fell to James Madison, 78-62, to close out the regular slate. The Blue Hens defeated #7 William & Mary in the CAA Tournament Quarterfinals, 61-35.
Jasmine Dickey leads the conference and ranks third in the country with 25.1 points per game. Ty Battle paces the team off the glass with 11.4 rebounds per night.
Next Up
The winner of the #2 Delaware vs. #3 Towson game will go onto play of the #1 Drexel vs #5 Charleston contest in the CAA Tournament Championships on Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m.
Tigers in the Community
For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. The Tigers won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
