Women's Basketball | 2/26/2013 3:00:00 PM

Hempstead, N.Y. - The Hofstra Women's Basketball team will look to regain momentum as the regular season winds down when the Pride welcomes nationally ranked Delaware on Thursday at 7 p.m. from the Mack Sports Complex.

Two of the most accomplished players in league history and the nation will oppose each other for the final time in the regular season as All-America selections Shante Evans and Elena Delle Donne will look to lead their respective teams.  

Hofstra (12-14, 8-7 CAA) will be looking for a split in the season series against a Blue Hens squad that will enter 24-3 and 15-0 in conference play. Delaware is ranked 18th in the latest AP national poll. For ticket information, please call 516-HOF-TIXX.The game can be heard on WLIB (1190-AM) with live streaming video and audio available through the PRIDE ZONE on GoHofstra.com.

Delaware has won 19 in a row and has not been defeated in 2013 with the last loss coming on Dec. 20. Hofstra is 8-4 at home this season with three wins in the last five games on its home court.

Evans has scored in double figures in 25 of 26 games for Hofstra this season. The senior forward is averaging 16.7 points and 11.3 rebounds; having posted a double-double in 10 of the last 11 games. A two-time All-America pick, Evans leads all active players in career double-doubles with 67, according to STATS LLC.

In her final visit to the Mack Sports Complex, Delle Donne will try and keep Delaware unbeaten in league play. One season after leading the Blue Hens to a  CAA championship and a second-round NCAA Tournament appearance, Delle Donne is averaging 25.1 points, which is more than six points higher than the next-closest competitor in the league. She became the CAA's all-time leading scorer earlier this month.

At 6-foot-5, Delle Donne has hit 48.1 percent of her three-point attempts while also averaging 8.4 rebounds.  Both stars shined In the first meeting between the schools at the Carpenter Center on Feb. 3 as Evans scored 14 points and added 14 rebounds while Delle Donne scored 35 points and hauled in nine rebounds.

Evans will also look to continue her climb up the records book. After becoming Hofstra's all-time leading scorer, rebounder and first member of the program's 2,000-point club, Evans comes into the week with 1,287 career rebounds and needing just 27 to break Meredith Alexis' all-time CAA mark. Alexis grabbed 1,313 rebounds from 2004-07.With a minimum of four games left (including at least one CAA Tournament contest), Evans would need to average 6.75 rebounds per game to  break the record. 

Evans already is one of just three active players who has amassed 2,000 points and 1,000 career rebounds and also is one of just 19 players all-time since 1999 to reach the threshold of 2,000 points and 1,200 career rebounds.

Delaware is second in the CAA in scoring offense with 66.4 points per game and first in scoring defense in holding teams to 50.8 points. But Hofstra will look to senior Candace Bond to help curtail the potent Blue Hens attack. Bond leads the CAA in both total steals (72) and steals-per-game (2.8). The Fort Washington, Md. native will play her penultimate home game on a hot streak after averaging 11 points and seven rebounds through the Pride's two-game road swing at Towson and Old Dominion.

Junior forward Anma Onyeuku paced Hofstra with 15 points against the Lady Monarchs in the last game and is enjoying a career season as one of two players to average in double figures with 10.3 points. Onyeuku is second in the CAA in field goal percentage, knocking down 53.8 percent of her attempts from the floor. She has finished with double-digit points in 10 of her last 13 games.

Delaware's Danielle Parker has also provided valuable complementary scoring for her team. Parker scored 15 points and logged nine rebounds versus Hofstra earlier this month and is averaging 9.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. Lauren Carra, who finished two rebounds shy of a double-double in that game, is second on the Blue Hens with a 11.2 scoring average.

Two of the league's most successful point guards will also be featured. Delaware's Kayla Miller is fourth in the CAA with a 3.4 assist average. Hofstra sophomore guard Andreana Thomas is one just two players in the league to crack the 100-assist mark and could finish with more than 200 this season after compiling 171 through 26 games for a 6.6 average.  Thomas' average is more than two assists higher than the next player in the league and places her 11th nationally.