Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Loyola (Md.)
Loyola's Big Second Half Sinks Dragons in Season Opener
11/9/2007 9:21:29 PM | Women's Basketball
Baltimore, Md. - Drexel took a 33-22 lead into halftime and after shooting a sizzling 50 percent from the floor in the first half, it appeared that the Dragons season of slow starts was behind them and Loyola was in trouble. But the whistles were deafening in the second half as the Dragons were hit with fouls early and often. Loyola took advantage of its more than 15 minutes in the bonus, converting 25 of its 31 second-half free-throw opportunities to pull out a 72-62 victory. Freshman Jasmina Rosseel led the Dragons with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from deep. Gabriela Marginean, who was shackled with foul trouble for much of the contest finished with 10 points and six rebounds in the loss.
The Dragons weathered half of the first period without Marginean, who picked up her second foul at the 10:09 mark in the game. The team found other scoring options with its leading scorer on the bench, however, as Rosseel and Delise Johnson stepped up to combine for 12 points. Rosseel's first points as a Dragon came on a long three-pointer from six feet behind the arc at the 10:59 mark to give Drexel a four-point lead. The Dragons went on to shoot 13-for-26 from the floor and 4-for-6 from deep.
The second half was a different story. Loyola opened up with a 13-4 run to get back in the game as Drexel made just three of its first 11 field-goal attempts. The Dragons were whistled for fouls defending Loyola's first five possessions of the period, allowing the Greyhounds to mount their comeback. Loyola took its first lead at the 8:36 mark when Ashley Alexander made a layup to make it 46-45. The Greyhounds' advantage appeared to be fleeting, however, as Rosseel hit another long three to put the Dragons on top 51-50 with 5:42 to play. Nicole McCombs knocked down a pair of free-throws to maintain the lead at the 4:22 mark, but a finger-roll layup by Vika Sholokova gave Loyola a lead it would not relinquish with just over four minutes remaining in the game.
Another layup by Sholokova pushed the lead to four points and the Greyhounds closed out the game shooting 12-for-12 from the free-throw line to pull away for the win. Marginean, who picked up her fourth foul early in the second half, returned in the waning minutes and provided a spark buy getting a put-back after her missed three-point attempt, but the Dragons did not get closer than four points in the final minutes in their first loss of the season.
Drexel shot an icy 29.4 percent in the second half and the Draongs were out-rebounded 48-32 overall and 20-10 on the offensive glass. Loyola converted 20 second-chance points off its offensive rebounds. Sholokova led the way for the Greyhounds with 14 points and she was joined in double figures by the balanced scoring attacks of Meghan Wood, Candice Walker, Erica DiClemente and Ashley Alexander.
The game marked the regular-season return of Nicole Hester to the floor. Hester sat out last season while fighting and winning a battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The junior forward provided a spark for the Dragons in the beginning of the game when she knocked down a three-pointer on her first shot attempt, picked off a pass on the other end of the court and distributed a beautiful pass to Marginean for a layup on the ensuing trip down with gave Drexel an 11-8 and keyed a 15-8 Drexel run in the first half.
Transfer sophomore Brooke Cornish logged her first minutes as a Dragon in the game. The 6-foot-4 forward grabbed two boards, chipped in four points and swatted four shots. Her four blocks was the most for a Dragon since Meghan McIntyre did it against Towson on March 1, 2002.
The Dragons are back in action in the first of two games against Philadelphia rivals. Drexel tips it up at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, Nov. 14 before playing host to La Salle on Nov. 17.
