Delaware

The sand trucks are running. The bulldozers are spreading. A nearly $1 million effort is under way to restore Delaware Bay beaches that are - or were, before Hurricane Sandy ravaged them - crucial turf for spawning horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds that depend on crab eggs for refueling. On beaches where there was once ample sand for the crabs to dig into and deposit their eggs, biologists surveying the area after the storm found rugged tufts of sod, which had underlain the sand - part of $50 million in damage to bird habitats affected by Sandy.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - With Delaware's 69-62 loss to second-seeded Kentucky in the NCAA tournament on Saturday, Elena Delle Donne's attack on school and Colonial Athletic Association record books is history. But the explosive scoring star's climb up the NCAA career scoring charts concluded among some impressive company. The end came when Delaware coach Tina Martin removed Delle Donne with 10 seconds left so the senior all-American could receive a final ovation after posting a third straight 33-point performance before the Wildcats (30-5)

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Elena Delle Donne's attack on school and conference record books at Delaware and in the Colonial Athletic Association have become history while her climb up the NCAA career scoring charts concluded among some impressive company. The end came Saturday when Delaware coach Tina Martin removed her senior all-American with 10 seconds left for a final ovation after the explosive scoring star posted a third-straight 33-point performance before Kentucky's ouster of the Blue Hens from the NCAA tournament became official.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Story lines are plentiful here at the Bridgeport Regional semifinal portion of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. There's the $10.8 million contract extension given by the University of Connecticut to its Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown and has guided the top-seeded Huskies (31-4) to seven national titles. No. 4 seed Maryland (26-7), the team UConn will face Saturday in the second game in the sold out Webster Bank Arena, took a new approach to the postseason by taking the Acela Express on Amtrak from College Park to the Terrapins' hotel in Stamford, 30 minutes south of here.

Bryn Mawr Bank Corp. will go from one branch to five in the state of Delaware by acquiring MidCoast Community Bancorp Inc. in a transaction valued at $33 million. The Montgomery County-based bank holding company said Thursday that it would acquire the six-year-old MidCoast, which has about $235 million in loans, $250 million in deposits, and 36 employees. In the all-stock deal, MidCoast shareholders would receive 0.52 shares of Bryn Mawr Bank common stock for each share of MidCoast they own. Shares of Bryn Mawr Bank closed at $23.28, down 18 cents, on Thursday.

Kentucky's primary goal against Delaware will be like all Blue Hens' opponents: try to keep all-American Elena Delle Donne from taking control of the game. It's not the first time this season the Wildcats have faced one of the sport's best players. Kentucky (29-5) coach Matthew Mitchell believes his team learned from its experience against the game's most imposing player - 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner - in an 85-51 loss to Baylor. The 6-5 Delle Donne presents a different challenge; she rebounds, is a willing passer, and averages 25.8 points - but she can dominate from the perimeter.

NEWARK, Del. - Five years after she said farewell as the nation's top girls' basketball player at Wilmington's Ursuline Academy, Elena Delle Donne said goodbye again Tuesday night at Delaware's Bob Carpenter Center. Delle Donne's last game on her home court - as a collegiate all-American - was even more joyous this time around. The 6-foot-5 star delighted a sellout crowd of 4,653, including Vice President Biden, a Delaware alumnus, by scoring 33 points as the Blue Hens knocked off North Carolina, 78-69, in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

NEWARK, Del. - Minutes after her Delaware women's basketball team upset North Carolina Tuesday night, coach Tina Martin spoke to the sold-out Carpenter Center crowd. "Blue Hen fans, you rock!" Martin said over the public-address system. "Let's go to Bridgeport. " The Blue Hens indeed are on their way to Connecticut for an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 meeting with Kentucky on Saturday. Sixth-seeded Delaware (32-3), which will be making its first Sweet 16 appearance, fought back from a 10-point, early-second-half deficit and stunned third-seeded North Carolina, 78-69.

Another fight between Delaware County juveniles that allegedly was egged on by a parent has been caught on a cellphone video. David Howard Butler, 31, of Brookhaven, can be heard on the March 20 recording encouraging his daughter and another girl to fight, police said. "Go, go, go! Keep going," Butler was heard telling her during the melee, as the teenagers flew into each other with arms and fists swinging, according to court documents. On the video, he can be heard yelling "Punch her!"

NEWARK, Del. - The success that all-American Elena Delle Donne has experienced at Delaware isn't a surprise to North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell. Delle Donne had just finished seventh grade when she attended a basketball camp run by Hatchell in Chapel Hill. "Not only was she a big girl for her age, but her skill level was unbelievable," said Hatchell, who added that she offered Delle Donne a scholarship to North Carolina on the spot. Delle Donne declined, and now the 6-foot-5 senior is poised to go up against the Tar Heels on Tuesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center in the second round of the NCAA tournament.