Drexel University
UNC Wilmington
Hester Assists Dragons To Ninth Straight Win, 63-50, Over UNC Wilmington
1/20/2008 6:26:37 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
Philadelphia – Nicole Hester handed out a career-high eight assists and led all scorers with 16 points, to guide her Drexel team to its ninth straight victory, 63-50, over UNC Wilmington (10-6, 1-4 CAA) The Dragons (10-6, 5-0 CAA) remain tied atop the Colonial Athletic Association standings with Old Dominion and Towson.
Drexel deflated the Seahawks' tenacious trapping defense with accurate three-point shooting. The Dragons were 11-for-25 from beyond the arc. Hester paced the team with a career-high four three-pointers. She made her first three attempts from distance to set the pace in the first half.
Alison Lupariello came off the bench and knocked down 3-of-4 three-pointers and Narissa Suber and Stacy McCullough added two each. McCullough finished with a career-high-tying eight points. Gabriela Marginean chipped in 15 points, 10 of them in the second half. All 10 of Suber's points also came in the second frame.
After trailing by as many as 12 points early the second half, UNC Wilmington employed a full-court trapping defense and forced the Dragons into turnovers on consecutive possessions about five minutes into the period. The Seahawks closed the gap to seven points at 35-28 and appeared poised to make a run at the lead.
But a big three-pointer from Hester in the corner was a shot to the confidence of the Seahawks trap, pushing the Dragons' lead back to 10 points. Lupariello would follow suit minutes later when she snagged a nearly errant pass and toed the three-point line before drilling a shot from the top of the arc to make it a 41-31 Drexel lead.
Hester's ball handling proved to be vital against the defense of UNC Wilmington and the Dragons' veteran decision making allowed them to quickly solve the aggressive defense to generate open three-point attempts. Hester collected her eighth assist on a skip pass to Suber on the wing for the team's 11th three-pointer. She also closed out the game by knocking down four free throws in the final minute and a half to seal the win.
Hester's third triple gave the Dragons a 10-5 lead just under three minutes into the game and the team played from ahead for the duration. Drexel's defense in the post set the tone by limiting UNC Wilmington's dominant forward Sahsha Taylor to just seven points on 2-for-6 shooting. Delise Johnson played solid defense against Taylor, and hustled to create turnovers, disrupt the Seahawks offense and snag a career-high-tying two steals.
UNC Wilmington suffered through two spells of more than seven minutes without a field goal in the first half, finishing the period 5-for-16 from the floor. Freshman Brittany Blackwell came off the bench to lead the Seahawks with 12 points.
Drexel's winning streak now matches the second longest in the school's history, a nine-game spurt during the 1986-87 season. It is second only to the team's 16-game win streak during the 1989-90 season. The Dragons travel to face Towson on Thursday in Maryland. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m.
