Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Princeton
Princeton Shoots Past Drexel 66-49
12/17/2009 9:08:52 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - Princeton's Niveen Rasheed scored a game-high 27 points on 11-for-16 shooting to set the pace for a hot-shooting night by her Princeton Tigers (8-2) in a 66-49 win over the Dragons (4-4) at the DAC. Drexel sophomore Kamile Nacickaite matched her career high with 19 points and did well to answer the call with leading scorer Gabriela Marginean shackled with foul trouble.
The Tigers shot 50 percent in the game and 52 percent from the floor in the second half, paced by Rasheed's 9-for-11 shooting performance in the period that equated to 21 of Princeton's 35 points in the stanza. Devona Allgood put together a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double and helped contribute to the Tigers outscoring the Dragons 42-16 in the paint.
The Dragons shot 35.8 percent in the contest and an uncharacteristic 4-for-9 from the free-throw line. Marginean, who played just 25 minutes due to foul trouble and was disqualified with five fouls with just over two minutes to play, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and a team-high three steals.
Drexel managed to come back from a nine-point Princeton advantage in the first half to take its first lead of the game on a layup by Nacickaite just under four minutes into the second half. The bucket, which was set up by a Marginean theft, put Drexel on top 35-34. Over the next seven and a half minutes the teams would trade the lead seven times.
Marginean was whistled for her fourth foul of the game at the 13:25 mark with Princeton leading 38-37. Nacickaite stepped to the forefront and scored Drexel's next eight points on back-to-back three-pointers and a driving layup with 10:20 on the clock that put the Dragons up 45-44.
Much to the Dragons' chagrin this would be their last points for seven and a half minutes, during which time Princeton mounted a 12-0 run to put the game away.
Marginean returned to the contest with just over four minutes left and her team mired in a 52-45 deficit. She managed one bucket in the next two minutes before picking up her final foul and exiting the game.
Princeton jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the first half and did not surrender it through the first 20 minutes. Lauren Edwards led the Tigers with 10 of her 12 points in the opening period, while Rasheed lay relatively dormant with six points on 2-for-5 shooting before erupting for 21 points in the second period. The Tigers led 31-26 at halftime.
The Dragons are back in action in a pre-holiday matinee on Monday, Dec. 21, hosting Bucknell at 1:00 p.m.
