Drexel University
Northeastern
Dragons Rally For Eighth Straight Win, 71-66, Over Northeastern
1/17/2008 9:23:48 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - Drexel came back from a six-point deficit early in the second half and staved off several Northeastern rallies for a 71-66 victory. Gabriela Marginean scored 17 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 25. The Dragons (9-6, 4-0 CAA) lit it up for 60.9 percent shooting from the floor in the second period to put away the Huskies (5-9, 0-4 CAA) in regulation in a game that was a rematch of the longest game in NCAA history.
Drexel extended its winning streak to eight straight, which matches the third longest string of consecutive victories in the program's history. It is the longest run of victories for the Dragons since the 1989-90 season when the team won a school-record 16 straight. Drexel also extended its best start in CAA play to four straight conference wins.
Narissa Suber added 19 points and Nicole Hester chipped in 12 and a team-leading five assists and two blocked shots. Drexel made 15-of-16 free-throw attempts and was 6-for-6 in its final trips to the line with less than a minute to play to sew up the victory.
After trailing at halftime, Drexel used a 20-5 run to pull ahead of the Huskies and build a 51-42 lead by the 9:22 mark in the second half. Northeastern pushed its slim 29-27 halftime margin to six points, 37-31, on a jumper by Shalyese Smallwood just under four minutes into the period. The second-half bucket was the first of the contest for Smallwood, who lit up the Dragons for 37 points in the teams' last meeting.
With the Huskies on top by six points the Dragons turned to their leading scorer. Marginean delivered, hitting a pull up jumper in the lane to ignite the rally. Moments later, Jasmina Rosseel splashed the net with a long three-pointer from the left wing to make it a 39-36 Northeastern lead.
Suber gave Drexel a brief advantage with a pair of free throws that put the Dragons on top 40-39, but a deep three by Ashlee Feldman put the Huskies back on top. Much to their chagrin, however, it would be the team's only basket for the next four minutes. The Dragons' defense made the adjustment to contend with Northeastern's speedy guards. Marginean and Suber stepped in to draw two offensive foul calls and Hester came up with a key block in transition. During the Huskies' hoop hiatus, Drexel capitalized to score 11 points to take a 51-42 lead with 9:22 to play.
Although the Dragons expanded their margin of favor to 12 points with only five and a half minutes remaining, the Huskies called the issue to question with an 11-2 spurt that made it a 65-62 game with under a minute left. Smallwood, who plagued the Dragons last year, would not let her Huskies succumb without a fight, driving for a pair of layups sandwiched around one by Lucia Pablos.
But in the matchup of the CAA's top two free-throw shooting teams, Drexel capitalized by earning 16 trips to the line, to Northeastern's six attempts. Stacy McCullough, Narissa Suber and Gabriela Marginean all converted from the stripe to close out the win.
Drexel started the contest in much the same way it has the last seven: hot shooting. The Dragons made six of their first seven from the floor and by the 14:04 mark it appeared as if they might run the Huskies off the court. But it would take 20 shots for the team to make its next seven buckets and the speedy Northeastern guards were able to bring their squad back to make the game a dead heat at the half. Hester, Marginean and Suber combined for 22 of Dexel's 27 points at the break.
The Dragons will look to push their winning streak to nine straight when they host UNC Wilmington on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 4:00 p.m. The contest will air live on Comcast SportsNet.
