Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
George Mason
Second Half Surge Breaks Mason in 71-52 Drexel Victory
2/5/2009 8:55:42 PM | Women's Basketball
Fairfax, Va. – Four Dragons reached double figures in scoring led by Gabriela Marginean's 21 points as Drexel outscored George Mason 37-27 in the second half for a comfortable 71-52 victory over the Patriots (2-19, 0-10). Nicole Hester scored a season-best 13 points and pulled down a team-leading 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Jasmina Rosseel (15 points) and Andrea Peterson (11 points) also reached double figures for the Dragons (13-8, 8-2) who remain in a first-place tie with James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth.
Drexel's victory extends its winning streak to five straight, and the Dragons have won three in a row on the road. After slogging through a lackluster first half, the Dragons opened the second period with a 21-6 run. Marginean, who had been held to eight points in the first period, scored 11 points in the first 9:42 of the second period during the Dragons' spurt. Marisa Crane shoveled a pass to Marginean on a back door cut on the baseline for a quick layup that gave Drexel a 55-31 lead at the 11:09 mark to cap the run.
Hester, who turned in her best performance of the season, gave the Dragons their largest lead of the contest, 62-34, when she knocked down her third three-pointer of the game with just over eight minutes in the period. The senior scored seven of her season-high 13 points in the second half. She also dished out four assists and snared a steal.
The Dragons shot a sizzling 63.6 percent from the floor, missing just eight shots in the period, including a 5-for-11 performance from deep. Rosseel and Marginean led the team with three steals apiece. In addition to Peterson led the team with five assists without a turnover. The Dragons committed just nine miscues in the game, a season low for the team.
Marginean served early notice the Patriots in the second half when she wrestled a steal away from an Patriot near the sideline and slid a pass to Peterson who led a three-on-two break the opposite direction. Peterson drew her defender to the right before bouncing a perfectly placed pass to Marisa Crane for a layup on the left side of the lane. Drexel went on to pressure George Mason into 17 turnovers in the game and the Dragons converted them into 27 points on their end of the court.
George Mason closed out the game with a 16-7 run in the final minutes to close Drexel's lead to 19 points, which was the final margin. Brittany Poindexter led the Patriots with 13 points and Rachel Robinson pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, leading Mason's 28-26 advantage over Drexel on the boards.
Coming off her 21-point performance at UNC Wilmington, Rosseel scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half. The sophomore guard controlled the tempo of the game for the Dragons, at one point scoring eight straight to put her team on top 20-14 midway through the period. Rashauna Hobbs kept her Patriots in the game with three first-half three-pointers for nine of Mason's 25 points at the break. Drexel led 34-25 at halftime
Rosseel shot 2-for-5 from deep to move into a tie for fourth place on Drexel's career three-pointers list with Maureen Michaels who also has 102 career threes. With her 21 points in the game, Marginean moved into sole possession of third place on Drexel's all-time scoring list with 1,563. The Dragons fifth straight victory is their longest streak since last season when the team won nine in a row from Dec. 16, 2007 to Jan. 24, 2008. Drexel will return to the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Sunday, Feb. 8 for a 1:00 tip with the Tribe of William & Mary. The Dragons will be looking to avenge a 63-57 loss to the Tribe earlier this season in Williamsburg, Va.
