Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Penn State
Drexel Drops Season Opener to Penn State, 74-56
11/10/2006 9:14:33 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia- Drexel women's basketball lost to Big Ten power Penn State, 74-56, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in the Dragons' 2006-07 season opener. Drexel (0-1) was led by Narissa Suber's 18 points while the Lady Lions (1-0) got 18 points and 17 rebounds from Amanda Brown.
In her first game as a Dragon, freshman Gabriela Marginean put in a dozen points, 10 of which came in the first half, pulled down six rebouns and blocked two shots. Junior Anora Suber, who made her fifth career start in the game, scored a career high 10 points and was a perfect 2-for-2 from deep.
The Lady Lions opened the game with a 11-4 run, led by a pair of driving lay-ups and a baseline jumper by Kamela Gissendanner. Marginean kept the Dragons in the game, however, scoring eight of the team's first 13 points on a pair of mid-range jumpers and a strong move to the hoop for a lay-up. She got a jumper to fall midway through the opening period to cut Penn State's lead to 19-13, but from there the Lady Lions would push their lead to as much as 11 points in the first half.
The Dragons played hard despite being outrebounded 21-10 in the first period. A three-pointer by Jennifer Stjarnstrom with just over two minutes remaining in the period would make it a 25-20 Penn State lead, but the five-point advantage is as close as the Dragons would get for the duration of the contest. Penn State took a 34-25 lead into halftime.
Drexel worked hard in its offense and managed to generate a number of good looks at the basket despite the lanky defense of the Lady Lions. But the Dragons shot just 37 percent from the field in the first half. Penn State, led by Brown's 10-point, 10-rebound first-half double-double, capitalized on its inside looks at the hoop to knock down 55.2 percent of its shots.
In the second half Penn State continued its dominance on the glass, using a pair of offensive rebound put-backs by Charity Renfro to key a 12-5 lead that opened a commanding 16-point lead. The Lady Lions would go on to finish with 40 points in the paint.
After leading by as many as 22 points in the period, Penn State was threatened only by a 11-2 Drexel run capped by an Alison Lupariello three-pointer at the 4:21 mark which made it a 64-51 game. The redshirt freshman brought the crowd to its feet when her shot found the net off a feed from Narissa Suber.
But Penn State would take advantage of a pair of steals by Courtney Molinaro, which helped contribute to the Lady Lions' 20 points off turnovers, to pull away for the final 74-56 margin. Gissendanner, who started the game with a hot hand, finished with 15 points. Brianne O'Rourke also put in 15 and added five assists and five steals, but the Dragons also forced her into committing four turnovers.
In addition to her team-leading 18 points, Narissa Suber also contributed four assists, four rebounds and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line. The Lady Lions' Adrienne Squire had a rare miss from the free-throw line with 1:31 left on the clock. Squire set an NCAA record by shooting .964 from the charity stripe last season, missing just six of her 86 free-throw attempts all season.
The Dragons shot 38 percent from the floor overall and 45.5 from deep, while the Lady Lions made a sizzling 49.1 percent of their shots from the floor in the contest and holding a 40-21 advantage on the boards.
Drexel is back in action on Sunday, November 12 hosting Loyola at 1:00 p.m.
