Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Penn
Dragons Shoot Past Penn 60-41
12/20/2007 3:15:27 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - After playing to a 26-26 draw in the first half, Drexel found its stroke from long distance, drilling 8-of-15 from deep to blow past University City rival Penn (3-6) for a 60-41 victory. Six different Dragons contributed to the team's season-high output from distance. Sophomore Alison Lupariello led the barrage, making all four of her three-point attempts in the second half. Gabriela Marginean finished with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds for the Dragons (3-6) who have won two straight.
Drexel's defense stepped it up to force Penn into 25 turnovers, 15 in the second half, and the Dragons' offense converted the miscues into 29 points. The Quakers shot a woeful 16.7 percent in the second half, converting just 3-of-18 attempts from the floor while the Dragons shot 44.4 percent and a sizzling 53.3 from long range. The Dragons held Penn's leading scorer, Carrie Biemer, off the scoreboard for the entire second half after she appeared to be scoring at will with her jump shot in the opening period.
Lupariello and Nicole Hester led the charge off the bench, combining to score 19 of the team's 24 bench points. The tipping point for Drexel came midway through the second period when a Narissa Suber three-pointer started an 18-5 Drexel run during which four different Dragons combined to hit five straight threes. Lupariello's trey from the left wing with 4:54 on the clock gave Drexel a solid 50-35 lead. The Dragons would hold on to close out the game and hold Penn without a field goal for the final six and a half minutes of play.
Nicole Hester's decision making and court vision figured prominently into the Dragons' successful shooting afternoon. The junior forward distributed a career-high-tying six assists while driving to open up her teammates, as well as threading pin-point passes into the post for easy Drexel layups.
Drexel led by as much as five points in the first period, but Penn was able to close the gap each time that the Dragons attempted to pull away. Back-to-back three-pointers by Sarah Bucar and Amy Donovan gave Penn its largest lead of the game, 26-23, with four and a half minutes left in the half. But Narissa Suber would quickly eliminate it with a three-pointer from the left elbow to knot the game at 26-26 going into halftime.
The victory gave Drexel a season sweep of Penn in both men's and women's basketball for the first time ever. The men's basketball team defeated the Quakers this season, 67-59 in overtime on Nov. 9, 2007.
Drexel is back in action after the holiday break, taking on American at the Palestra. The 3:30 game will be the front-end of a doubleheader with the men's team. Both games will be televised on CN8.
