Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Northeastern
Dragons Go to Overtime at Northeastern For Their 10th Straight Win, 58-53
2/22/2009 4:28:17 PM | Women's Basketball
Boston – Andrea Peterson knocked down a three-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation to complete a furious Drexel rally that saw the Dragons (18-8, 13-2) recover from a nine-point deficit at Northeastern with just over four minutes to play. Peterson's shot ringed the rim and fell in to make it a 48-48 game. The Dragons used a pair of overtime three-pointers by Jasmina Rosseel and Marisa Crane to forge a six-point advantage and hold for a thrilling 58-53 win over the Huskies (10-16, 7-8) . Gabriela Marginean led all scorers with 22 points, giving her 625 on the season which matches Michelle Maslowski's single-season scoring record at Drexel.
With the victory, the Dragons are 13-2 in CAA play, matching the most wins for the Dragons as a member of the conference, and sets up a first-place showdown between Drexel and Virginia Commonwealth this Thursday at the DAC. It was the team's sixth conference road win of the season, which is the most for Drexel as a member of the CAA.
Peterson finished with nine points, five boards an a team-high five assists. Jasmina Rosseel chipped in 11 points and four assists. Marginean pulled down a team-leading seven boards and Nicole Hester added six to go with seven points. Brittany Wilson led the Huskies with 17 points and Jasmine Crew and Kendra Walton scored 11 apiece.
Drexel trailed for all but seven minutes of regulation before knotting the game on Peterson's three-pointer in the waning seconds. Both teams shot 40 percent from the floor, but the Huskies were just 1-for-6 in the overtime period, which allowed Drexel to outscore them 10-5. Northeastern also coughed up the ball 21 times in the game, most notably in the final minutes of regulation.
For the first time in the last nine games Drexel went into the locker room trailing. The Huskies capitalized on seven Drexel turnovers in the first frame and came out as the clear aggressors in the first half, taking a 29-22 lead at the break thanks to 11 points by rookie Brittany Wilson. Marginean scored 12 of her 22 points in the first half, but the Dragons shot just 34.5 percent overall in the half.
Northeastern pushed its lead to 10 points early in the second half on a layup by Wilson, who led the Huskies in scoring, that made it 34-24. Nicole Hester spurred her team to a 9-0 run with a three-point play after drawing a foul on a layup. Jennifer Stjarnstrom followed with a layup curling of a screen in the lane and Marginean hit a driving hook shot and dropped two free-throws to make it a 34-33 game at the 14:08 mark.
Jasmine Crew and Wilson brought their team right back with a pair of driving layups that led to a 10-3 Huskies' run. Northeastern took a 42-37 lead and further deflated the Dragons when they frustrated Marginean in to committing her fourth foul of the contest with just over six minutes to play. The team's leading scorer would find herself on the bench with 4:47 on the clock and her team trailing 46-37.
With Marginean on the bench, the Dragons would turn to their defense to bring them back in the game. Jasmina Rosseel took over the offensive reigns of the team with her teammate on the bench, driving the lane and picking up a hard foul that turned into two free throws for the Dragons. It was the team's first points in more than four minutes and it allowed the Dragons to get into their defensive set.
Drexel forced a turnover off a trap on the ensuing Northeastern inbounds play which led to a driving layup by Peterson, making it a 46-41 game. The Dragons pestered Wilson into throwing the ball away on the Huskies' end of the court on their next trip down. Peterson capitalized again, this time hitting an up-and-under bank shot to cut the lead to three points with 3:41 to play.
Stjarnstrom swatted away a driving attempt by Crew on the Huskies' next possession and the pestering defense of Marisa Crane and Peterson forced her into committing a traveling violation. The Dragons stemmed the tide enough to give themselves a chance to win by the time Marginean reentered the game with a minute and 20 seconds remaining. Hester drew a charging foul on Crew for Northeastern's fourth straight turnover. Marginean promptly bounced in a driving lefty layup with 43.6 seconds left to make it a 46-45 Northeastern game.
The Dragons got one more turnover off the Huskies when a trap by Peterson and Crane forced Crew into a traveling violation. Marginean missed a driving layup with 21 seconds left and on the ensuing rebound Crew drew a foul and made both free-throws to push Northeastern's lead to three points 48-45. Drexel put the ball in the hands of Crane, who drove down the left side of the lane and drew a Northeastern defender. She kicked the ball out to Peterson who was spotted up for a three-pointer on the wing. The senior's shot fell in after a precarious trip around the rim to tie the game. Crane came up big on defense in the final seconds as the Huskies cleared it out for a one-on-one opportunity for Crew against the freshman. But Crane was up to the test. She forced Crew to take an off-balance shot that missed, giving Drexel the ball and sending the game into overtime.
Peterson hit Rosseel with a cross-court pass for an open three-pointer to open scoring in overtime. The teams traded free throws before Peterson again identified an approaching double team and hit Crane for an open three-point look that the freshman buried, sending the Drexel bench in to a frenzy.
Crew hit a tough three-pointer that halved Drexel's six-point lead with 26 seconds left, but Peterson iced the game with two free throws with 22 seconds on the clock. Rosseel muscled away a steal with 16 seconds and the Dragons closed out their 10th straight win.
The win keeps Drexel in a first-place tie with Virginia Commonwealth at 13-2 in the conference. The teams will settle the draw next Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. game in Philadelphia.
