Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Penn
Ten Dragons Get On The Scoreboard in Thrashing of Penn
12/22/2005 12:00:00 AM
Penn opened the game with a 5-0 run but Hester, who helped the Dragons to a victory over UMBC with two scoring spurts, scored 10 straight points after a Candice Williams (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves) hit a lay-up to give Drexel a 12-7 lead that it would not relinquish. The Dragons' full-court pressure forced the Quakers into two quick turnovers, keying the Drexel run.
Carly Golden (Rumson, N.J./Rumson Fair Haven) gave the Dragons their biggest lead of the game, 22 points, with 2:20 left in the first half when she knocked down her first career three-pointer. Golden would go on to score nine second-half points, finishing with a career-high 12 points. Drexel went into the locker room with his largest halftime lead of the season, 38-18. Drexel shot 51.6 percent from the field and limited Penn to 33 percent in the first half. The Dragons also out-worked the Quakers on the boards, grabbing 21 caroms to Penn's 10.
There was no let-up for the Dragons in the second half. Narissa Suber took over the scoring duties after Catherine Scanlon (Drexel Hill, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and Hester combined to score 21 of the team's 38 first-half points. Suber hit a pair of threes and then drove the lane for a lay-up to make the score 49-24 and force a Quaker timeout.
From that point Penn only got as close as 19 points with 9:34 remaining. But a three-pointer and a jumper of the two-point variety by Kira Karlstrom (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) ignited a 9-2 run that effectively sent the Quakers on their merry way going into the holiday break. Drexel hit nine of 10 free throws to close out its biggest win since 2004.
Drexel kept up the defensive intensity in the second half, forcing seven turnovers and recording a season-high five blocks. Kalstrom, a 5-foot-4 junior guard, recorded her first career block in the first half to go with her season-high 12 points. Carly Golden's career-high 12 points came on perfect 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc. The freshman also converted a modern three-point play after being fouled on a triple attempt from the corner. With Golden's career-best performance the Dragons have had three different players set career-highs in scoring in the last three games. As a team Drexel hit 12 three-point shots, which was one short of the team's all-time single-game high for three-pointers.
Walk-ons Kelly Golden (Doylestown, Pa./The Hill School) and Lindsay Woods (Montreal, Quebec/The Peddie School) tallied their first career points in the win. Golden's came on a free-throw and Woods made a driving lay-up and converted a three-point play. Sophomore Anora Suber (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) saw a career-high 18 minutes and put in a personal-best nine points to go with her three boards, a steal and an assist.
Scanlon, who finished with 12 points and season-high six assists, went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to end her free-throw streak at 17 straight from the charity stripe.
The Dragons are back in action after the holiday break when they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on Howard at 2:00 p.m. on Dec. 31.
