The Drexel University women’s basketball team had an outstanding last weekend to the month of January as they defeated two conference teams, Elon University Jan. 26 and Northeastern University Jan. 28. These two wins lengthen their victory streak to six games in a row. They are now 16-5 on the season and 8-1 in Colonial Athletic Association play.
This was the first time the Dragons were seeing Elon this season. A three-pointer from freshman Hannah Nihill put the Dragons on the board first until a 10-0 scoring run from Elon put them behind. A foul from Elon’s Ra’Shika White sent sophomore Bailey Greenberg to the free throw line. She made both of them putting the Dragons within five points.
Senior Kelsi Lidge grabbed her first three-pointer of the night with 3:29 left in the first quarter. Another foul from Elon sent sophomore Aubree Brown to the free throw line, tying the game.
The first quarter ended with the Dragons leading by one point, 15-14. Towards the end of the second quarter, Elon was up by six points, 23-17, but the Dragons battled back to tie the game at 25-25 going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the game started to become more intense. The teams tied at three different points in the quarter with the largest lead never surpassing six points. In the final two seconds of the third, Lidge put up a good shot to leave the Dragons only trailing by two, 42-40.
The action quickly heated up in the final quarter as Elon scored eight points within the first two minutes of play. They led 50-40 with 8:12 to go. A timeout from head coach Denise Dillon got the team back on track.
By 4:06, the Dragons were back to within two points, and 47 seconds later Nihill made a three-pointer. Elon never gained the lead back from the Dragons. A foul on Elon’s Anna Popovic in the last eight seconds of play sent Lidge to the line for two. She secured the win 58-56.
Although this was one of the Dragons’ lower scoring percentage nights, they scored almost half of their points on turnovers from Elon. Lidge finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Greenberg put up 11 points with two assists and senior Sara Woods grabbed 11 points and nine rebounds.
After claiming victory from Elon, the Dragons looked ahead to their next game during Homecoming weekend against rival Northeastern.
With hopes of clinching a spot in the CAA championship game, the Dragons looked to take another win from Northeastern.
The first quarter was close as the teams were tied with 52 seconds left before Brown sent a message with a good three-pointer in the final eight seconds. The Dragons led 15-12 heading into the second.
The Dragons continued their scoring run and led 27-14 with 5:07 to play. Northeastern fought back to within six points by the end of the first half, but the Dragons were defining the game.
A dominant third quarter for the Dragons allowed them to maintain a lead over Northeastern 40-35 heading into the final quarter.
With 5:13 left in the game, Northeastern had fought back to tie the game 48-48.
A quick timeout allowed the Dragons to regroup and send Northeastern home. Lidge sealed the deal once again at the free throw line with the final score 58-50.
The Dragons had only eight turnovers to Northeastern’s 13, and made over half their points in the paint. Lidge and senior Megan Marecic both finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Woods followed right behind with 10 points, and Nihill had six points and three assists.
The women’s basketball team is half way through conference play and will be traveling for the next three games after the game Feb. 2 against Towson University. They will play the College of Charleston for the first time this season in South Carolina Feb. 4. Charleston has only won one game in conference play so far losing their last eight games in a row. The game begins at 1 p.m.