Second Half Rally Falls Short as Dragons Fall to Penn State 71-61 in Season Opener

Friday, November 13

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00

Drexel University

Penn State

Marginean led all scorers with 27 points

Second Half Rally Falls Short as Dragons Fall to Penn State 71-61 in Season Opener

11/13/2009 9:42:09 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Philadelphia - A lackluster performance in the first half proved to be Drexel's undoing in a 71-61 season-opening loss to Penn State (1-0) at the DAC. Led by Gabriela Marginean's 27 points and eight rebounds, the Dragons (0-1) mounted a comeback in the second period and managed to cut the Lady Lions' lead to five points with 4:15 to play. But Penn State pulled away with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes and held on for the victory. Tyra Grant led the Lions with a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double.

In addition to Maginean's game-leading point total, she also snared a career-high six steals. Penn State turned the ball over 22 times, which contributed in large part to the Dragons surge in the second half. Jasmina Rosseel added 14 points and made two of the Dragons three three-pointers,

Penn State knocked down 45.3 percent of its shots from the floor and went 20-for-26 from the free-throw line. The Dragons shot an icy 32 percent in the first half and finished the game shooting 35.9 from the floor and an uncharacteristic 3-for-22 from deep.

With 3:15 left in the first half Penn State's Meredith Monroe banked in a layup to give the Lady Lions a 20-point lead, their largest of the game. But the Dragons used a block by Tyler Hale and a tremendous hustle play that saw Marginean save a ball while diving into the stands to ignite a 10-0 run to close the half trailing 35-25.

Drexel scored first in the second half to extend its run. But Grant promptly answered with a three-pointer from the wing while being fouled by a diving Tyler Hale. She converted the four-point play and the Lady Lions soon forged a 14-point advantage, 43-29, just under two and a half minutes into the period.

The Dragons again fought back with a 10-0 run, keyed by a driving jumper off the hand of Marissa Crane. Marginean capped the spurt with a steal at the top of the arc and a break-away layup that trimmed Penn State's lead to just four points, 43-39, with 12:40 to play. Drexel managed to stay within striking distance for the next eight minutes thanks to a pair of three pointers by Marginean and Rosseel.

A driving layup by Marginean at the 4:15 mark cut Penn State's lead to 56-51. Coming out of a media timeout Drexel was the beneficiary of a pair of Lady Lion turnovers. Both of the miscues resulted in three-point looks by Kamile Nacickaite, the Dragons' third leading scorer on the night, but neither hoist found its mark. A parade of Lion free-throw shooters descended on the charity stripe during the final minutes to close out their 10-point win.

Marginean and the Dragons will return to DAC on Sunday to face University City rival Penn at 1:00 p.m. Marginean will be looking to break the team's all-time scoring record of 1,900 career points, held by Michelle Maslowski, she needs just 20 points to do so.