Women’s basketball demolishes Towson, captures second seed in CAA tourney | The Triangle

Women’s basketball demolishes Towson, captures second seed in CAA tourney

Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com
Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com
In their final regular season game, the Drexel University women’s basketball team clinched second place in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 74-33 victory on the road against Towson University March 2.
Their 41-point victory over the Towson Tigers on Wednesday was the Dragon’s second largest win in a game during this season.
After a back and forth first-quarter that ended with the Dragons leading the Tigers 14-10, Drexel began to pull away from Towson. In the second-quarter, the Dragons outscored the Tigers 20-3 and took a 34-13 lead into halftime.
Drexel’s defense played particularly well in the first half, holding Towson to just five of 25 shooting from the field in the first half. The Dragons were also fairly efficient on offense in the first-half, connecting on 48.1 percent of their shot attempts from the field.
Capitalizing on the momentum they built in the first-half, the Dragons exploded on offense in the second-half by scoring 40 points on 60.9 percent shooting from the field. The Dragons played team basketball in the second-half as they had eight different players make at least one field goal and nine different players record at least one assist.
Towson’s offense continued to struggle against Drexel in the second-half as the Tigers were held to just 20 points after halftime. The Dragons ended up outscoring the Tigers 60-23 in the final three quarters of the game as they cruised to victory.
Senior forward Jackie Schluth filled the stat sheet in a variety of ways for the Dragons as she scored 7 points, pulled down 6 rebounds, dished out a team high 4 assists and blocked 2 shots.
Junior forward Sarah Curran, who dropped 13 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, was the leading scorer for the Dragons. Junior guards Alexis Smith and Meghan Creighton were the only other Dragons to score in the double-digits as they dropped 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Dragons were also helped by a solid performance on the boards from Senior guard Carrie Alexander who led the team with nine rebounds.
With their victory over Towson, the Dragons improved their record to 13-5 in the conference and clinched the No.2 seed the CAA tournament for the second year in a row. The two-seed will give the Dragons a first round bye in the CAA tournament.
Drexel’s head coach Denise Dillon said last Tuesday that she likes her team’s chances to win the CAA tournament.
“It’s really just finding that urgency and convincing this team that they can do it. They’ve proven they can do some great things,” coach Dillon said.
The next game for the Dragons will be in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament in Marlboro, Maryland at 5 p.m. March 10. Their opponent has not yet been determined.
The Dragons will be entering the CAA tournament on a two game winning streak. Before their victory over Towson on Wednesday, the Dragons overcame a 13 point first-quarter deficit to College of William & Mary and earned a 69-53 victory at home day on Senior Day, which was Feb. 28.
After opening the game with a 5-0 lead, the Dragons surrendered a 17-0 run to the William & Mary Tribe. The Tribe were able to make their lead as large as 13 points as they were ahead of Drexel 20-7 with just 1:38 remaining in the first-quarter. It was at that point that the Dragons began to go on a run of their own.
Led by Schluth and junior guard Jessica Pellechio, the Dragons went on a 9-0 from the 1:38 mark in the first-quarter to the 8:40 mark in the second quarter to make the score 20-16 in favor of the Tribe.
Drexel outscored William & Mary 18-10 in the second quarter and trailed by just one point at halftime.
In the third quarter, senior guard Rachel Pearson hit two three-pointers for the Dragons, which helped give Drexel a 44-42 lead over William & Mary as the game headed into its final period.
Drexel outscored William & Mary 25-10 in the final quarter and finished the game with a 69-53 victory.
Pellechio erupted offensively in the fourth quarter as she scored 13 points on four of five shooting from the field for the Dragons. She finished the game with team highs in points, 21, and assist, five.
In her final home game of a 6-year career with the Dragons, Schluth scored 12 points and had teams highs in rebound and blocks with seven and five respectively. Her five blocks tied a personal high for both this season and for her career.
Curran was the only other Dragon to score in the double-digits. Curran contributed in various facets of the game as she dropped 17 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
Pearson, who struggled with her shot early, ended her final home game with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Senior guard Carrie Alexander played just five minutes, but managed to score two points for the Dragons.
“What Jackie Schluth, a grad student, and Carrie Alexander and Rachel Pearson have done, both on and off the court for this program, is tremendous. They’re great representatives of our program,” coach Dillon said.