Drexel University
William & Mary
Tribe Out-duels Dragons, 48-43, at the DAC
1/4/2007 9:03:09 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia, Pa. - William & Mary (9-4, 2-0 CAA) handed Drexel (5-8, 0-2 CAA) its second conference loss of the season, 48-43, In a highly contested game that saw seven lead changes and eight ties. The Tribe missed just one of its 12 foul shots in the final three minutes of play to hold off the Dragons, who had their chances despite shooting just 20 percent from the field. Gabriela Marginean grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds, eight of them contributed to Drexel's 25 boards on the offensive glass.
Drexel rallied from a five-point deficit midway through the second half and reclaimed the lead on a three-pointer from the corner by Andrea Peterson. On the Dragons' next trip down, Peterson slashed her way into the lane for a layup to put Drexel on top 36-33 at the 4:52 mark in the game.
The game turned minutes later when a foul by Nicole McCombs put Courtney Portell on the line for a pair of free throws. Portell converted both free tosses, which keyed a 6-0 run by the Tribe to take a 41-36 lead with under a minute to play.
Anora Suber breathed life in to the Dragons by hitting a three-pointer from the far corner after Marginean collected two of her eight offensive rebounds to generate the extra opportunity. The trey cut the Tribe's lead to 41-39 with 58 seconds to play. But William & Mary went to its anchor, Kyra Kaylor, the CAA's reigning Player of the Year, who backed her way in for a layup to push the Tribe's lead to four points.
Anora Suber drove the lane for a layup on Drexel's next trip down, but that would be the Dragons's last field goal. From there William & Mary would squelch Drexel's chances for a comeback by converting 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 23 seconds.
Narissa Suber scored 11 of the Dragons' 18 first-half points, including three three-pointers, but the sharp shooters' shots ceased to fall in the second stanza as she went scoreless for the duration of the game. Kyra Kaylor led the Tribe with 16 points to go with her six rebounds and three steals. Drexel outrebouned the Tribe 48-33, with 25 of Drexel's boards on the offensive glass, resulting from the team's myriad misses from the field.
Drexel led by as much as five points in the first half and saw the lead slip away just before halftime. While the Dragons shot a season-low 18 percent from the floor and matched it with as many points, the team trailed by a slim 19-18 margin at the break. Peterson scored all nine of her points in the second half and teamed with Anora Suber to put in 17 of the team's 25 points in the final 20 minutes of play. But this was not enough to keep the Dragons afloat in the contest.
Drexel travels to Norfolk, Va. to face Old Dominion, who is coming off a win over Virgina Commonwealth, on Sunday, Jan. 7. Tip time is set for 2:00 p.m.
