Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Northeastern
Huskies Deal Drexel Another Narrow Defeat, 59-54 in Boston
1/31/2008 9:00:36 PM | Women's Basketball
Boston, Mass. – For the third straight game Drexel found itself in a game that came down to the wire and for the third straight game, the Dragons came out on the wrong end, falling 59-54 to Northeastern (6-12, 1-7). Gabriela Marginean finished with 21 points and scored 17 of them in the second half during a furious Drexel rally, but it was not enough to overcome a quiet shooting night for the Dragons (10-9, 5-3) and a hot-handed Huskies team. Delise Johnson finished with a career-high 13 points and nine rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass and many in the final minutes.
Marginean hit a twisting reverse layup with 19.6 seconds left to cut what had been a 10-point Northeastern lead just minutes before to 53-52. Drexel fouled to get the ball back but Ashlee Feldman hit both of her free throws to make it a 55-52 game. Delise Johnson cleaned up an offensive rebound with a put-back layup with eight seconds remaining, making it a 55-54 Northeastern lead. Shaleyse Smallwood again converted both free tosses for the Huskies and Drexel set up an inbound play with seven seconds left under the opponents' basket.
On the play Jasmina Rosseel broke free and caught the heave at half court then beat her defender before being caught in a Northeastern trap at the three-point line. She faked a pass then stepped through to split the defenders before putting up a desperation three-pointer attempt. The ball sailed wide to the left of the rim and caromed away. A foul was called on Johnson in the struggle for the rebound and Northeastern hit two more free throws with two tenths of a second on the clock for the final margin.
After trailing by as many as 12 points early in the second half Drexel used a 7-0 run midway through the period to get back in the game. The Dragons' defense held Northeastern without a hoop for a span of four and a half minutes while cutting the lead to 44-41 with just under seven minutes left.
The Huskies jumped back out to a 10-point lead with a three-point play by Smallwood and a three-pointer by Lucia Pablos, making it a 51-41 game with five minutes left. With their backs to the wall and the clock ticking down, the Dragons turned on their trapping defense and forced a Northeastern turnover.
Rosseel keyed the final charge with a full-court drive for a layup to make it 51-47 with 1:21 on the clock. On the next possession Stefanie Hodell air-balled a three-pointer from the win which landed in the hands of Nicole Hester. Hester hit Marginean on a dead sprint with a baseball pass for a layup that made it 51-49. The back-breaking shot for the Dragons came on a long jumper by Jasmine Crew near the end of the shot clock making it a 53-49 game with 51 seconds left. Johnson pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds and drew a foul on the second. She converted the first free-throw and on the miss of the second one Rosseel sprinted in to grab an offensive rebound, setting up Marginean's layup and the final thrilling plays of the game.
The Dragons looked to Marginean to get them back into the game. After she had scored just four points in the first 20 minutes she came up with eight through the first three and a half of the second half and 17 in the period.
Northeastern expanded its halftime lead to 12 points in the first four minutes of the second half. The Huskies scored on their first four possessions of the second half while Drexel continued to miss, shooting 2-for-7 to start the period. The Dragons hit just one of their first nine three-point attempts.
For the second time this season Drexel entered halftime against Northeastern behind. This time the Dragons trailed by seven 26-19 at the break after taking just as many shots as the Huskies, 21, but making four fewer for a chilly 33 percent from the field.
Drexel finished the contest shooting 36.8 percent from the floor and a season-low 1-for-13 from deep. Northeastern shot 46 percent from the floor and made 7-of-17 three-pointers. The Huskies were also 10-for-11 from the line. Drexel came back to out-rebound Northeastern 33-30 overall and 14-6 on the offensive glass. The Dragons converted 15 of the offensive boards into points, to the Huskies three-points off second opportunities. The tight loss was the third straight of five points or less for the Dragons.
Drexel continues its two-game road swing at Hofstra on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2:00 p.m.
