Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
UNC Wilmington
Dragons Ground Seahawks For Third-Straight CAA Win
1/29/2006 12:00:00 AM
Philadelphia, Pa. - Drexel (9-9, 4-5 CAA) overcame a torrid 73.7 percent shooting performance by UNC Wilmington (11-7, 5-3 CAA) in the first half, coming from behind for a 70-60 conference victory. Senior captains Candice Williams and Jackie Falson hit season highs and combined for 25 points in a win that evened the Dragons' record at 9-9.
The victory is the first win for the Dragons against a conference opponent with a winning record and it vaults Drexel into a tie for seventh place in the CAA with Virginia Commonwealth.
Narissa Suber led the Dragons with 17 points and three steals. Catherine Scanlon, who came into the game averaging a double-double against the Seahawks for her career, put in 16 points, nine of which came in the second half when Drexel outscored UNCW 42-25. . Falson scored all of her season-high 11 points in the second half, rebounding from an 0-for-7 shooting performance in the first period.
The game was nip and tuck through the first 15 minutes of play, with no team holding more than a four-point advantage. While the Seahawks missed just five shots in the first period, Drexel was able to hang in the game despite shooting 34.8 percent thanks to hard work on the offensive glass. The Dragons snared seven offensive rebounds in the first stanza, converting them into 10 second-chance points.
UNCW pulled ahead by six points on a three-pointer by Denise Lawrence, who led all scorers with 22 points, with under a minute left. But Williams, who put together one of her best games of the season, knocked down her first career three-pointer from the top of the key to keep the game within reach for the Dragons at 35-28.
The visitors' seven-point lead quickly vanished in the second half when Drexel rolled out a 5-0 run while putting the lid on UNCW from the field for a six-minute stretch. The Seahawks missed as many shots in their first posession, five, as they did in the entire first half. This would prove to be a harbinger for UNCW shooting woes in the period as the squad clanked for just 29 percent from the field to close out the game.
A jumper by Scanlon at the top of the key gave Drexel its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 48-47 with 8:45 to play. Falson pushed the lead to five points when she nailed a three pointer from the corner and drew a foul right in front of a Dragon bench that erupted after the shot rippled the twine. The senior guard converted the four-point play to make the score 52-47 with just under eight minutes left.
Nicole Hester dropped in a layup off an back-screen cut to the hoop pushing the lead to four points. Hester, who was fighting a foot injury, came off the bench to score four points, grab three offensive boards and hand out three assists in just 10 minutes of play.
Scanlon's three-pointer at the 5:38 mark gave Drexel its biggest lead of the game at that time, 57-50. UNCW would embark on a 6-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to narrow the margin to one point at 57-56. But this is as close as the Seahawks would get. Anora Suber knocked down her only three of the game after a Drexel timeout, giving the Suber sisters five triples on the day, to make the score 60-54. Scanlon would power her way into the lane for a layup just minutes later to push the Dragons' advantage to 62-57. Drexel would close out the game shooting 8-for-10 from the free-throw line to take the win.
The loss was the Seahawks' fourth in their last five games. Four Dragons reached double-figure scoring for first time this season. Drexel outrebounded UNCW 33-30 overall and 16-10 on the offensive glass. The 16 offensive caroms was the second most for the Dragons this season and contributed to Drexel outscoring UNCW 24-10 on second-chance points.
Drexel takes its three-game winning streak on the road next weekend. The Dragons take on Old Dominion on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 p.m. and play Virginia Commonwealth at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday Feb. 5.
