Drexel University
Old Dominion
Marginean's 40-Point Performance Powers Drexel Over Old Dominion 67-55
2/12/2009 9:25:30 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - Gabriela Marginean scored a season-high 40 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to led Drexel to its second win ever over perennial CAA power Old Dominion 66-57. The Lady Monarchs, who are 17-time defending CAA Champions, drop to 13-9 overall and 8-4 in conference play. The Dragons (15-8) remain tied atop the conference standings with James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth at 10-2 in CAA play.
Marginean scored 23 of her season-high total in the first half while helping the Dragons jump out to a 33-25 lead at halftime. Senior point guard Andrea Peterson was the only other Drexel player in double figures with 12 points. Both Marginean and Peterson led a Drexel defense that forced 22 turnovers with four steals apiece. Three of Peterson's swipes came in the closing two minutes of the first half.
On her 22nd birthday, Marginean gave the Dragons a present by scoring 16 of the team's first 18 points of the contest. She set the defensive intensity level early with a steal on the perimeter for a break-away layup and the first points of the game. Marginean's 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting led the Dragons into the locker room with a 33-25 lead. Drexel shot 44.8 percent in the half and ended the game shooting 42.6 percent from the floor. Drexel forced 22 turnovers in the contest and converted them into 18 points.
Following in Marginean's torrid defense early, freshmen Marisa Crane and Tyler Hale came off the bench in the first half to help harass the Lady Monarchs into 13 turnovers by the break. Midway through the period, Crane tipped away a pass at the three-point arch and chased it down amidst two Old Dominion players. She saved the ball to Hale while falling out of bounds and Hale deftly deflected a touch pass to a cutting Marginean for a quick layup. Minutes later Peterson would come up with a steal at the perimeter and throw a perfect lead pass to Marginean who sprinted it down for another layup to give Drexel its largest lead of the half 22-12 and force an Old Dominion time out.
After frustrating the Lady Monarchs in to three turnovers in the waning moments of the first half, Andrea Peterson continued to plague her opponents in the second period, but this time it was on the offensive side of the court. She opened scoring for Drexel with a three pointer and went on to score eight of her 12 points in the second period.
Drexel squelched any thoughts of a comeback by Old Dominion, who has already registered a number of second-half game-winning rallies this season, when the Dragons used a 7-2 spurt to take a 13-point lead just three minutes into the half. The Dragons' defense allowed Old Dominion just two field goals through the first 10 minutes of the half while building a 16 point lead.
Crane brought the crowd of 833 fans to its feet when she sliced her way through the lane and hit an acrobatic scoop layup to put the Dragons on to 54-36 with 9:28 to play. Peterson would cap a 12-2 Drexel run with a baseline jumper that gave the Dragons their largest lead of the game, 56-36, at the 8:44 mark.
Marginean put the icing on the Drexel victory by hitting six straight free throws in the final 3:40 to close out the second 40-point performance of her career. She exited the game in the final minute to raucus applause and her team went on to close out the win. Marginean's 40 points was the most she has scored in a regulation game in her career and ranks second only to her 47-point performance as a freshman in Drexel's five-overtime victory against Northeastern on Feb. 22, 2007. It now stands as the most points ever scored in a regulation 40-minute game by a Drexel player.
The loss is Old Dominion's fourth conference loss this season which is most for the Lady Monarchs since the 1991-92 season, their first in the CAA. Old Dominion came into this season with just 17 regular-season conference losses in 17 seasons of play in the CAA. It also marks the largest margin of defeat for Old Dominion in a conference game this season. The last time Drexel beat Old Dominion was March 6, 2005 in the finale of the 2004-05 regular season. Drexel's 71-68 victory deprived the Lady Monarchs of the No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament.
Drexel extends its winning streak to seven straight with the victory. It is the team's longest such streak of wins since last season when the team reeled off nine in a row from Dec. 16, 2007 to Jan. 24, 2008. The team's 10-2 mark is its best start ever through 12 games of CAA play. The Dragons are on the road this weekend when they travel to Atlanta for a rematch with Georgia State on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2:00 p.m. The Dragons defeated the Panthers earlier this season 74-65 at the DAC.
