Fencor 1989s

Ursuline proves best in the end DelleDonne, Mills lead furious rally to edge Vikings By BUDDY HURLOCK Staff reporter 02/18/2004 WILMINGTON -- The Ursuline Academy girls basketball team scrambled back from a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat host St. Elizabeth 77-70 in overtime Tuesday night. The No. 3-ranked Raiders (15-4, 6-0) clinched at least a tie for the Catholic Conference title. No. 4 St. Elizabeth (15-4, 3-3) led 54-39 with 6:04 left in regulation before Elena DelleDonne and Kate Mills rallied Ursuline. DelleDonne scored 35 and Mills added 27, with 38 of their combined 62 points coming from the fourth quarter on. DelleDonne added 16 rebounds. The Raiders used a 19-2 run to tie it 58-58 with 1:02 left, and DelleDonne's inside jumper with six seconds to go made it 62-62 and forced overtime. The Raiders outscored the Vikings 15-8 in overtime, going ahead 66-64 after DelleDonne grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast to score with 2:39 left. Before that, the only Ursuline lead had been for 12 seconds in the second quarter. But Mills said gloom never set in for the Raiders. Not with junior point guard Caitlin Mullarkey on the court. "Our defense really set the tone for us in the fourth quarter," Mills said. "And Caitlin really fired us up, leading by example and screaming at us that we could still pull it out. We played off her emotion, and then we made some shots and got some rebounds." Mullarkey played the lead role in the Raiders' full-court press late in the game. "We showed how hard we're going to play for as long as it takes to win the game," the 5-foot-4 Mullarkey said. "If we had to play six overtimes, we'll play just as hard." Khadijah Rushdan had 24 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals for St. Elizabeth. She fired up the home crowd that packed the St. E Center with her normal fare of solid shooting and eye-popping assists. But she said Ursuline's pressure and her own team's fatigue turned the tide. "We had the same five people out there for a while, but we played with our heart," Rushdan said. "Nothing more you can ask for. We wanted it so bad, but at a time you're going to get tired." Mills and DelleDonne hit 17 of 19 free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime. St. E, meanwhile, twice went 1-for-2 on trips to the line in the final 29 seconds of regulation. "I thought we needed one more rebound, one more basket," St. E coach Tom Ferrier said. "But you can't yell at a team after a game like that." Ursuline 13 16 6 27 15 -- 77 St. Elizabeth 18 13 18 13 8 -- 70 URSULINE-Mullarkey 1 2-2 4; DelleDonne 12 8-10 35; Williams 3 2-2 8; Mills 7 13-15 27; O'Hanlon 1 1-2 3; Miller 0 0-2 0; Seitz 0 0-0 0; Norris 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 26-33 77.