Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Georgia State
Suber Paces Dragons In 64-48 Win over Georgia State
2/7/2008 6:08:48 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - Narissa Suber led all scorers with 21 points and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to lead Drexel to a 64-48 win over Georgia State (6-15, 3-7). The Dragons (12-9, 7-3) led by 20 at halftime, after shooting 50 percent from the floor and burying eight three pointers in the period, and held on for their seventh conference win of the season.
Gabriela Marginean, the reigning CAA Player of the Week, added 17 points and four boards to the win. Nicole Hester scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half and finished the game shooting 3-for-4 outside. Drexel mounted a massive lead in the first half after opening the game on a 12-2 run. The 20-point halftime advantage was enough for the Dragons to withstand a 37 percent shooting performance in the second half and hold on for the victory.
Coming off one of the team's best three-point shooting performances of the season, in a 66-51 win at Hofstra, the Dragons blitzed the Panthers in the first half, draining 8-of-15 from long range and pulling out to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Drexel's defense set the tone in the first half by holding Georgia State off the scoreboard for more than five minutes to start the game.
Drexel slowed Georgia State's fast-breaking offense by holding the ball and using the majority of the shot clock to maximize possession time. Suber dropped in back-breaking three-pointers in sync with the shot clock buzzer on two occasions in the first half. One came off of a drive and dish by Hester with time winding down. The second gave Drexel a 30-11 lead when Suber curled off of a screen and took the feed from Jasmina Rosseel.
Georgia State's Danyiell McKeller scored 10 of the team's 18 first-half points on 5-for-7 shooting. The rest of the Panthers were little help, however, as they combined to shoot 3-for-19 from the floor and 1-for-6 from distance. Drexel held the Panthers' leading scorer, Brittany Hollins, to just three points on 1-for-4 shooting in the period. She bounced back to finish with 12 in the contest, but it was not enough to bring her team back from its sizeable deficit.
While the Dragons did not experience the same success shooting outside in the second half, they still managed to pour it on and expand the lead to as much as 23 points. Suber got herself open with good use of screens and back-door cuts to the basket. She scored 10 of the Dragons' first 14 points in the second half. The closest
Georgia State would get to a comeback in the contest was when Traci Haltiwanger rattled in a three-pointer with 2:15 left to make it a 16-point game. But that would prove to be the final basket of the contest as the Dragons put the wraps on their second straight victory.
Drexel will look to carry its momentum into a match-up with Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond on Sunday. The second-place Rams have lost just three games all season. That contest tips off at 2:00 p.m. at the Siegel Center.
