Dragons Outpace Greyhounds 69-58 in Opening Game of Villanova Wildcat Classic

Monday, December 28

Villanova, Pa.

5:30

Drexel University

Loyola (Md.)

Marginean led Drexel with 25 points and 11 rebounds in the win

Dragons Outpace Greyhounds 69-58 in Opening Game of Villanova Wildcat Classic

12/28/2009 8:43:42 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Philadelphia - Gabriela Marginean recorded a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Kamile Nacickaite scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half to help Drexel (6-4) hold off the Loyola Greyhounds (4-6) in a 69-58 victory at the Villanova Wildcat Classic. Senior guard Alison Lupariello drained a key three-pointer to stave off a Loyola rally that trimmed Drexel's 14-point second-half lead to just four points with five minutes to play. Drexel will face the winner of tonight's game between the host Wildcats and San Francisco at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Pavilion.

Marginean scored 14 of her 25 points in the second half to help keep the Dragons ahead of a charging Greyhounds squad. A hot shooting first period, led by Nacickaite's 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, gave Drexel a sizeable 34-25 lead at halftime. The half was fraught with turnovers by both teams, however, and in the second stanza the miscues would come back to haunt Drexel.

Loyola's Miriam McKenzie, who was held off the board until just 28 seconds remained in the first half opened the second period by scoring her team's first five points. The Greyhounds closed out the first half with a 7-0 run and they would continue this attacking style on offense combined with a trapping defensive press to pester the Dragons into committing 20 turnovers in the game.

Drexel built its lead to 14 points on a layup by Nacickaite at the 15:44 mark in the second half. But Loyola used an 8-0 run to trim the Dragons' advantage to 47-41 on a three-pointer b Katie Sheahin at the 13-minute mark.

Marginean took charge to score seven straight points for the Dragons and push their lead back to 10 points after converting a three-point play at the nine-minute mark that made it a 54-44 Drexel lead. But Loyola would respond with an 8-2 run capped by a pair of free throws by Alyssa Sutherland to come within four points, 56-52 with five and a half minutes left in the game.

With the Greyhounds effectively trapping Drexel throughout the length of the court Head Coach Denise Dillon inserted point guard Alison Lupariello to help with the ball handling. Lupariello promptly knocked down a three-pointer from the wing to push Drexel's lead to 59-52 with just over five minutes left.

The basket would serve as the pivot point to swing the momentum in Drexel's favor for the duration of the contest. From there Taylor Wootton would knock down a pair of close-range jumpers off feeds in traffic from Marissa Crane and Marginean and Lupariello would knock down two free throws with a minute left to ice the win.

Wootton would finish with eight points and five boards in her second straight strong performance. Crane led the way with six assists and nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from the floor.

In one of their best shooting performances of the season, Drexel outshot Loyola 50 percent to 36.5, and outrebouned the Greyhounds 39-26. While the 20 turnovers were a season high for the Dragons, the team's steady shooting and steely play in the final minutes led them to their second straight win and a chance to play for the Wildcat Classic Championship tomorrow night at the Pavilion.