W. bball splits in contests for the week, aims for win at JMU | The Triangle

W. bball splits in contests for the week, aims for win at JMU

The Drexel University women’s basketball team has scored 6-8 this season and 2-1 in conference play. That one conference loss, though, is a sore spot.

The Dragons fell to Northeastern University in overtime Jan. 8, on their home floor at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

“It was a little bit of a slap in the face here at home,” head coach Denise Dillon said of the loss.

The Dragons ended the first half of the game with a one point lead, and were up by three points with just 17 seconds left to play in the game after junior Alexis Smith took it to the hoop.  However, they couldn’t hang onto the lead; with three seconds in regulation, a Northeastern player made a move to the hoop, drained a runner and went to the line for an “and one,” where she sunk her free throw to tie the game.

Drexel was unable to score in overtime, leading to an eight point loss as Northeastern fought for the win. The final score was 65-73.

“We woke up a little later than we needed to,” Dillon said disappointedly of the team’s performance.

“It was a major setback against Northeastern. We have been so inconsistent in showing up two games in a row,” she continued.

The Dragons have yet to win two consecutive games this season, obviously making it difficult for the team to start a winning streak. However, following the loss at home, the team was able to rebound nicely, grabbing a win on the road at the College of William & Mary.

Drexel went into the game hungry for victory after the loss at home, and controlled the entire game against the Tribe, never falling behind. The Dragons were up by 15 halfway through the game and they held their lead, finishing the game with a win by a 17 point margin for a final score of 67-50.

The most notable performance of the day came from junior Sarah Curran, who netted a whopping 31 points.

For the fourth game in a row, senior Rachel Pearson also added double figures for the Dragons, scoring 13 against William & Mary. She is just six points away from scoring 1,000 points in her Drexel career. Dillon had only great things to say about Pearson, who is c

Photo courtesy drexeldragons.com
Photo courtesy drexeldragons.com

urrently averaging nearly 15 points per game and is a major contributor to the team.

“She’s developed her game to a higher level each and every year that she’s been here—then this year [Pearson’s] realizing how much we depend on her, not just as a scorer but [also as] a great defensive player,” Dillon said.

The team values Pearson for her character though, as well as her skill.

“[Pearson] is the one player when I look out there, she has the look in her eye, [asking] ‘what do we need to do to win, and I’ll do anything and everything to make that happen.’ You just hope that becomes contagious to the rest of the team,” Dillon said

Dillon will certainly hope that Pearson’s determination becomes contagious as the Dragons hit the road Jan. 15, traveling to James Madison University. Dillon hopes that they’ll be able to grab another win, finally getting themselves on a little streak.