Dragons Fall in CAA Opener

Wednesday, December 7

Daskalakis Athletic Center

Drexel University

Towson

12/7/2005 12:00:00 AM

Philadelphia, Pa.- Playing for the first time this season on its home court Drexel (2-4, 0-1 CAA) mounted a rally from a 12-point half-time deficit. A Catherine Scanlon three-pointer cut the lead to five points, 48-43 with just under two and a half minutes remaining. But Towson (3-2, 1-0 CAA) held on for a 58-51 win despite committing four turnovers in the final minutes.

Scanlon led all scorers with a season-high 19 points. Narissa Suber's three-pointer was not as true as normal, but she found other ways to score by driving to the basket and dodging her defender off head fakes. Suber put in 18 points, two shy of her season high. Towson, playing without an injured Kacy O'Brien, was lead by Tierra Jackson and Alis Freeman who both put in 17 points, Jackson also had four blocks Kelly Robinson snared a game-high 12 rebounds to go with her seven points.

Drexel shot a season-low 29 percent from the field and 27 percent from deep, well under their season averages. Towson had success driving to the basket, shooting 41 percent from the field including 24 points in the paint. But the Tigers couldn't capitalize on 34 free-throw opportunities, making just19 in the game.

Towson jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first six and a half minutes of play. Scanlon, who started the game on the bench, entered to ignite a 7-0 spurt and tie the game with a lay-up at the 11:34 mark. But the Dragons, who were plagued by cold shooting in their last game against East Carolina, continued to have difficulty getting their jumpers to fall. Drexel would score just eight more points in the half shooting 26 percent.

The teams traded baskets through the first five minutes of the second half and Towson's lead grew to 15 points before Kira Karlstrom drove the land and hit an acrobatic lay-up after a foul and converted the three-point play. From that point Drexel went on an 11-4 run to make the score 43-38 with just under five and a half minutes to play. Delise Johnson, who played a career-high 22 minutes, contributed a steal and a pair of blocks during the run in addition to several good hustle plays on defense. She also led the team with a career-high nine rebounds.

With the aid of four Drexel turnovers in the final five minutes, three of which resulted in points for the Tigers, Towson held on to win its first game over the Dragons in 13 meetings.

Drexel takes on Philadelphia-rival La Salle in the second game of a four-game home stand on Saturday, Dec. 10. The game is the front end of a doubleheader with the men's team. Tip is set for 12:00 p.m.