Delle Donne expected to play Thursday

Delaware superstar Elena Delle Donne is suffering from a strained tendon in her left calf - not a knee injury - and should be available for Thursday's game at Towson, Blue Hens coach Tina Martin said Tuesday.

An MRI on Monday confirmed everything was clean, no tears, Martin said on the CAA conference call. "It's definitely a tendon. It originated in the calf. The tendon that connects the calf to the knee is strained.. She's going to rehab it and ice it and should be able to play Thursday."

The nation's leading scorer, Delle Donne felt fine during Thursday's game against UNC Wilmington but began experiencing pain later that night. She was held out of practice Friday and worked out Saturday with a brace and heavy tape. Still unsure of the nature of the injury, Delle Donne asked out of the starting lineup for Sunday's game at Northeastern. Upon taking the court late in the first half, Delle Donne scored 22 points in 22 minutes as the Blue Hens pulled away 70-54.

"I think it scared Elena more than anything else, more mentally, not knowing what the problem was," Martin said.