Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Virginia Commonwealth
Dragons Claim First Place in CAA With 74-69 OT Win Over VCU
2/26/2009 9:56:51 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia - Jasmina Rosseel drilled a three-pointer with 35 seconds left in overtime to break a 67-67 tie and send the largest crowd to watch a women's basketball game at the DAC this season into a frenzy. Rosseel's bucket gave Drexel (19-8, 14-2) the edge it needed to close out a 74-69 victory over its CAA co-leader Virginia Commonwealth (23-5, 13-3) and grab sole possession of first place in the conference standings. The Dragons converted four straight free throws in the closing seconds to seal one of the biggest wins in the program's history. Gabriela Marginean led all scorers with 22 points, she shot 14-for-16 from the free-throw line including the two tosses that knotted the game with 14 seconds left in regulation, and also pulled down nine rebounds.
On her 22nd birthday, junior Jennifer Stjarnstrom put in a career-high 12 points and blocked three shots to lead her team's defensive effort against Quanitra Hollingsworth, one of the top centers in the conference. Hollingsworth finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Radislava Bachvarova and Kita Waller led the Rams with 18 points apiece. Jasmina Rosseel hit four three pointers in the game, none larger than her overtime dagger, and finished with 12 points and five boards.
Drexel saw a 10-point first-half lead vanish quickly in the second period and, with four minutes left in the game, the Dragons found themselves on the short end of a 57-51 contest. Marginean, who had been contained by the Rams' lanky defenders for most of the evening, took it upon herself to get to the free-throw line and settle her team. Doing so, she converted four straight free throws and allowed the Dragons to get into their trapping defense.
The Dragons shook up VCU's guards into coughing up the ball on successive possessions, allowing Drexel to trim the lead to two points. But Hollingsworth scored on a turn-around jumper to push the lead back to three points. Marisa Crane, who sparked the Dragons' run in the first half, came up big again for the team in the waning minutes of regulation and in overtime.
Crane pulled in an offensive rebound of a missed three pointer by Rosseel and drew a foul with 1:21 on the clock. She cooly knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 59-58 VCU lead. When it appeared that the Rams had broken Drexel's press and LaTavia Rorie was sprinting in for an easy layup, Crane came out of nowhere to knock the ball away and break up the fast break.
After a quick layup by VCU's Waller on the in-bounds play, the Dragons responded with two free-throws by Marginean to make it a 61-60 VCU lead. On the ensuing possession Marginean was whistled for an offensive foul as she drove down the left side of the lane and attempted to pass the ball. With 15 seconds on the clock, Bachvarova hit the first of two free-throws but her second offering missed its mark. Marginean hauled in the board and was fouled by Waller in the effort. With 14.2 seconds left Marignean, the conference's leading free-throw shooter, drained both shots to send the game into overtime.
VCU opened the extra period with a jumper by Hollingsworth in the lane, appearing undaunted by the Drexel comeback. But Marginean set the tone for her team by hustling down a rebound that was heading out of bounds and throwing it off a VCU defender to give her team possession. Rosseel followed her lead by playing pressure defense to force a turnover on the Rams' next trip up the court and
On the Dragons' possession Andrea Peterson backed her way down the left side of the lane and turned to throw a pass to Crane, who spotted up for a wide open three-pointer on the elbow. Crane rattled in the bucket to give Drexel it's first lead since early in the second half., 65-64.
Stjarnstrom maintained Drexel's defensive intensity, coming up with a big two-handed block on a driving Bachvarova with 1:51 in the game. The Rams missed a golden opportunity to take back the lead at the 1:40 mark when they grabbed a series of three offensive boards in the paint, but the put-backs on each attempt went astray. Courtney Hurt was fouled in her effort for a fourth board. She made one from the line and missed the second and as Peterson collected the board she drew a foul and converted one toss from the line to put Drexel up by one with 1:08 to play.
The Rams and Dragons traded free-throws to keep Drexel on top by one with 2:06 left. On the next trip down Peterson again converted 1-of-2 to put Drexel up by one with 1:08 left. Ebony Patterson answered with one free-throw of her own to tie the game at 67-67 with 48 seconds.
Crane brought the ball up the court for Drexel, using a Marginean screen at mid-court to shake one of her defenders. She drove into the lane before kicking the ball to Rosseel on the elbow to nailed her fourth three-pointer of the game and give her team the decisive edge it needed to close out the Rams.
The Dragons blitzed the Rams in the first half, shooting a sizzlng 52.2 percent in the first half. And the Dragons took advantage of the absence of Hollingsworth for half of the period with foul trouble to open a seven-point lead at the break, 31-24. VCU shot just 33.3 percent from the floor and clanked to 1-for-7 shooting from three-point range.
Marginean staked her claim to the program's single-season scoring record when Crane split the VCU defense with a drive just over seven minutes into the contest and kicked out a pass to Marginean on the win for a three-pointer. Marginean's second bucket of the game was also a trey, at the 10:21 mark in the half, capping an 18-5 run and giving her team its largest lead of the game, 21-11.
Virginia Commonwealth quickly turned the table in the second half, making nine of their first 12 shots through the midway point in the period to tie the game at 44 all on a turn-around jumper by Hollingsworth with 10:46 to play. Fortunately for the Dragons, VCU was not nearly as successful from the charity stripe. VCU made 10-of-16 attempts from the linein the second half, which allowed Drexel to keep within striking distance. Conversely, made free throws proved to be the steadying factor that got Drexel back in the game, as the Dragons made just one field goal over the final 8:52 of the half, but shot 15-for-16 during that span.
The victory not only moves the Dragons into sole possession of first place for the first time all season, but with one more win the team will clinch a tie for first in the regular-season. Drexel's 14th conference win of the season is the most ever conference wins for the Dragons and it also preserves their unblemished conference record at home.
Drexel will be back in action on Sunday as the team closes out its home season at the DAC against George Mason with a 1:00 tip. Seniors Nicole Hester, Andrea Peterson and Brooke Cornish will be honored prior to the game as part of Senior Day festivities.
