Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Maine
Dragons Blow Past Black Bears, 87-55 in SJU Hawk Classic Finale
12/29/2008 6:37:48 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia – One day removed from a frustrating 63-58 defeat at the hands of Holy Cross, Drexel rebounded with vigor to down Maine 87-55 in the final game of the Saint Joseph's Hawk Classic. Gabriela Marginean led all scorers with 23 points. Andrea Peterson put in a season-high 12 and matched her career high with four steals. Kamile Nacickaite reached double-figures for a third straight game with 16 points on four three-pointers. Marginean matched the tournament record, which she set yesterday, by making all 14 of her free-throw attempts. The win improves Drexel's record to 5-6 in non-conference play this season as the Dragons open their CAA slate next weekend at Delaware. Brittany Boser led the Black Bears (2-10) with 14 points.
The Dragons came out of the gate with one of its most intense first-half performances of the season, scoring 50 points in the period on 61.5 percent shooting, while the defense forced 17 Black Bear turnovers and snared 10 steals. Nine of the 10 Dragons who played in the game were on the scoreboard by the break as Drexel entered the locker room with a 50-25 lead.
Drexel set the pace from the onset of the game, using steals on back-to-back possessions to earn break-away scores and open a 18-4 lead by the 13:48 mark. One particularly heady hustle play early in the game epitomized the half for the Dragons. Andrea Peterson, who had three steals in the first half alone, blocked an inbounds pass to the wing and Marisa Crane collected the deflection before firing an entry pass to Marginean who flicked a touch pass to Jennifer Stjarnstrom for an open layup to make it 9-2 early in the contest.
It was more of the same from the Dragons in the second stanza as Drexel opened with a 10-2 run capped by a Nacickaite three-pointer from the top of the arc. The Lithuanian freshman's third trey of the game gave Drexel a 62-28 lead, its largest margin of the contest, at the 15:47 mark.
Maine did not get any closer than within 28 points for the duration of the contest as the Dragons kept up the pressure on defense. Drexel forced the Black Bears into 28 turnovers, the most for an opponent this season, while swiping a season-high15 steals. Drexel converted the Black Bear miscues into 37 points on their end of the court.
All 10 of the Dragons who suited up for the game scored. Freshman Ayana Lee, who played a season-high 16 minutes, chipped in a personal-best five points and was the team's second-leading rebounder with five caroms. Led by Nicole Hester's six-rebound effort, the Dragons also out-worked Maine on the boards 30-24 and 13-11 on the offensive glass. Hester also added a season-high eight points and turned in the defensive effort that Drexel fans have come to expect from her with three steals and a block.
As a team, Drexel shot a season-best 50 percent from long-range, canning 10-of-20 from distance. The Dragons also capitalized from the line, making a season-high 27 free-throws on 30 attempts led by Marginean's 14-for-14 performance. Marginean made 28 of her 30 free-throw attempts in the tournament to improve her shooting percentage to a conference-leading 90.3 on the season.
The win, which was just the fourth in 27 meetings for Drexel against its former America East opponent, closed out non-conference play fo the Dragons, who travel to play at Delaware on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 1:00 p.m.
