Marginean and Nacickaite Lead Dragons Past Bucknell 67-54

Monday, December 21

Daskalakis Athletic Center

1:00

Drexel University

Bucknell

Kamile Nacickaite scored a career-high 26 points in Drexel's victory.

Marginean and Nacickaite Lead Dragons Past Bucknell 67-54

12/21/2009 3:05:59 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Philadelphia - Kamile Nacickaite (26 points) and Gabriela Marginean (24) combined to score 50 of Drexel 67 points in a 67-54 victory over the Bucknell Bison (2-8). The Dragons (5-4) shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and used six three-pointers in the period to pull away from the feisty Bison, who missed just five shots in the half. Nacickaite's 26-point effort set a new career high for the sophomore guard.

Joyce Novacek led three Bucknell players in double figures with 17 points, Cosima Higham and Morgan Wrightson added 11 apiece. The teams played to a dead heat in the first half, with Drexel holding a slight 25-24 edge at the break despite missing the services of Marginean, who exited the contest at the 10 minute mark after picking up her second foul.

Bucknell outshot Drexel handily in the second half, knocking down 11-of-16 from the floor for a sizzling 68.8 shooting percentage. But Drexel tightened its defense in the second period and forced Bucknell into 14 turnovers and converted them into 18 points.

One miscue, in particular, leveraged the momentum toward Drexel in the second half. Marginean dove into a scrum to poke a loose ball to her teammate Marisa Crane, igniting a fast break. Crane sprinted down court with Ayana Lee and Nacickaite on her flanks. She looked the defender toward Lee on her left before delivering a bounce pass to Nacickaite who knocked down a layup while being fouled. Her conversion of the three-point play gave Drexel a 44-36 lead at the 10:32 mark. On the very next Drexel possession, Marginean drove the lane for a layup and connected on a three-point play of her own to stretch Drexel's lead to 47-39.

Marginean and Nacickaite would connect on three more three-pointers in the contest to salt away the Dragons' third home victory of the season.

Nacickaite's six three-pointers in the contest was a new personal best for the sophomore and it was also the most for a Dragon this season. Marginean knocked down 3-of-4 from deep, which was also her best three-point shooting performance of the season.

Rookie forward Taylor Wootton gave the Dragons quality minutes in the post. She converted 3-of-4 from the floor and all four of her free-throws for a season-high 10 points. At point guard, Crane notched her second highest assist total of the season, with seven helpers to go along with five points and two steals. Sophomore guard Ayana Lee played a career-high 21 minutes and responded with a personal best five-rebound performance to lead the Dragons on the boards.

Despite trailing at halftime, Bucknell also outshot Drexel in the first half 40 percent to 27.6 percent from the floor. The difference in the period was Drexel's 4-for-12 shooting from long range while the Bison went 0-for-3 from distance.

The Dragons close out non-conference play next week when they travel up the Main Line to play in the Villanova Wildcat Classic. Drexel will face Loyola (Md.) in the opening game on Monday, Dec. 28 and take on either Villanova or San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at Villanova.