Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Delaware
Defense Carries Dragons To Sweep of Rival Blue Hens
2/14/2008 9:16:27 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - Drexel completed a season sweep of its regional rival Delaware with a 48-42 win on "Think Pink" Day at the DAC. Gabriela Marginean led all scorers with 19 points and also pulled down a team-high seven boards. Drexel's defense played a key role in the victory on a night in which neither team shot well from the field. The Dragons (13-10, 8-4 CAA) poached a season-high 16 steals and swatted six shots in the victory. Delaware falls to 6-18, and 5-7 in CAA play, with the loss.
On an evening in little else was working for the Dragons, the team's defense and foul shooting came through when it counted. Drexel shot just 30.6 percent from the floor and while the Dragons did hit seven three-pointers but it took 29 shots to get the long-range buckets.
Both teams shared a poor shooting first half that resulted in a 17-17 draw at the break. Drexel opened the game with an 8-0 run over the first four minutes and held Delaware scoreless for the first 6:37 of the contest.
Delaware pulled ahead first in the second half, going on a 7-0 run before the Dragons could get their offense going in the period. Jasmina Rosseel responded for the Dragons with a pair of three-pointers to account for six of Drexel's eight straight points which gave the team a 25-24 lead at the 15:25 mark. Sandwiched between the three-pointers, Suber broke up a fast break with a cleanly stripped steal in the lane and took the ball to the opposite paint before dishing it to Marginean for a layup.
The Blue Hens would come back to tie the game twice more in the period, but Drexel, led by nine straight points off the hand of Marginean, would never fall behind again in the victory. Marginean hit five of six free throws on trips to the line on three consecutive possessions. Suber capped the 8-2 spurt with her fourth three-pointer of the game to give Drexel a 42-34 lead. Marginean and Suber both came up with big steals in the final minute and a half to close out Drexel's second win over the Blue Hens this season.
Drexel topped Delaware 66-62 on Jan. 10 in Newark, Del. in the team's second conference game of the season to snap a 18-game losing streak to the Hens. Tonight's victory give the Dragons a season sweep of Delaware for the first time since the 1998-99 season when both schools were members of the America East Conference.
In stark contrast to the teams' first meeting, in which Drexel was outrebounded 39-29, the Dragons battled to a 35-35 tie on the boards. The Dragons' season-high theft effort was due in most part to the defensive work of the starting five, who combined for 15 of the 16 steals. Suber snared a career-high-tying four steals, Delise Johnson also grabbed four, Nicole Hester and Marginean both added three.
Sha'Ron Harrison led the Blue Hens with 13 points and six boards. Drexel limited Kyle DeHaven, Delaware's leading scorer, to just four points on 1-for-6 shooting and forced her to commit six turnovers. Delaware committed 25 turnovers in the contest which matched the most by a Drexel opponent this season. The sterling defensive effort helped negate a season-high 23 turnovers by the Dragons. Delaware also aided in its own undoing by shooting 10-for-17 from the free-throw line and missing three straight during its run at the start of the second half.
Prior to Brooke Cornish's miss from the foul line early in the second half, Drexel had made 24 straight free throws dating back to Feb. 3 at Hofstra. Narissa Suber secured her place among the NCAA's career three-point leaders by knocking down four treys to move into the top 25 all-time three-point shooters. She now has 294 three-pointers in her Drexel career.
The Dragons and Blue Hens were sporting pink headbands, wristbands and shooting shirts, joining fans and coaches clad in pink as part of the WBCA's Think Pink Day. The initiative is an effort from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and the Susan Komen Foundation to raise breast cancer awareness. Several groups held fundraisers and collected donations at the game with proceeds going to the Komen Foundation. More than 900 schools nation-wide participated in this year's effort.
Drexel moves back into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with Virginia Commonwealth, who lost to UNC Wilmington at home, and Towson with an 8-4 mark in CAA play. The Dragons will face James Madison at the DAC in their next contest. The meeting with the No. 2 team in the conference tips off at noon on Sunday, Feb. 17. The contest was originally scheduled for a 1:00 start, but will now tip at 12:00.
