Drexel University
Towson
Dragons Outlast Towson in CAA Quarterfinals, 53-48
3/13/2009 1:51:56 PM | Women's Basketball
Harrisonburg, Va. - Top-seeded Drexel (22-8) fought off an upset bid by eighth-seeded Towson in the CAA Quarterfinals and defeated the Tigers (17-13), 53-48. With the win the Dragons advance to tomorrow's semifinal against 17-time defending champion Old Dominon, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, at noon.
Gabriela Marginean led the Dragons with 19 points and seven rebounds. She came up big for Drexel in the final minutes of the tight contest. With Drexel clinging to a slim 44-43 margin and just over two minutes left in the game Marginean returned to the court after a break of nearly two and a half minutes due to foul trouble. The junior foward promptly drove the lane to hit a layup off a spin move while drawing a foul. She converted the three-point play to give her team some breathing room at 47-43.
Marginean responded to two free throws by Towson's Katrina Wheeler with two of her own and Andrea Peterson converted 4-of-5 free throws to help her team hold off the Tigers. Towson had a chance to tie the game with 40 seconds left and Drexel leading 51-48. Following a miss by Peterson on the front end of a one-and-one. Shanae Baker-Brice, who led all scorers with 25 points, found herself open in the corner but her three-point attempt bounced just long. Peterson corralled the rebound and made good on two free throws after a quick foul to give her team its final margin of victory.
The Dragons survived a 9-for32 shooting performance in the first half and a spurt of turnovers that allowed Towson to swing the momentum of the game midway through the second period. Drexel closed out the game shooting 47.6 percent in the second half and 35.8 for the game. The Dragons kept themselves in the game on the defensive end by forcing 17 Towson turnovers. After being outworked on the boards early in the game, Drexel battled back to even out the struggle beneath the rim at 30 boards apiece. The difference came on the offensive glass where the Dragons hustled down 12 offensive boards to Towson's eight led by Marginean's three and two apiece by Peterson and Tyler Hale.
Drexel received an important lift from its corps of rookies. Hale came off the bench to provide an energetic lift on the glass. She finished with three five boards and three points. Kamile Nacickaite knocked down two three pointers an a key jumper late in the game and finished with eight points. Marisa Crane found herself in the contest early when Jasmina Rosseel turned her ankle on a drive just seconds into the contest. Crane became a key component of the Dragons' press break and defense on the speedy Tigers guards.
Drexel led 23-16 at halftime despite shooting an icy 28.1 percent from the floor. The Dragons capitalized on a rash of Towson turnovers midway through the half which led to a 13-4 Drexel run. Marginean, who scored the first points of the game on a fast-break layup, brought the period full circle as Rosseel hit her on a dead sprint ahead of three defenders for a basket that gave Drexel its seven-point advantage at the break.
In the second half Towson took advantage of a few sluggish offensive sets by the Dragons to close within one point a 29-28. The Tigers got into their full-court press following a layup by Baker-Brice and quickly swung the momentum by forcing a Drexel turnover at half-court. Baker-Brice converted the miscue into a three-pointer that cut the Dragons' lead to just one point at the 14:15 mark in the half.
Marginean responded by rallying her team for an 8-1 run. She knocked down a pair of mid-range jumpers then drove the lane and kicked out a pass to Nacickaite for a three-pointer to make it a 34-28 game.
To the Dragons' chagrin, that basket would be their last for nearly five minutes. And the reliable Drexel guard play that saw the Dragons commit just five turnovers in the first half coughed up the ball six times through the first eight minutes of the second. This confluence of circumstances conspired against the Dragons and allowed Towson to take a 36-34 lead on a put-back layup by Haliena Snowden with 8:18 left in the game.
The game found its final pivot point, however, when Jasmina Rosseel, who had made just 1-of-6 three-pointers on the day, pulled up from well beyond the three-point arc and drilled a trey from straight on to reclaim a two-point lead for the Dragons.
Towson had its golden opportunity with just under five minutes in the game when Marginean picked up her fourth foul on a reach-in call. She took a seat on the bench with the game tied 38-38 after a pair of Baker-Brice free throws. But with their leading scorer on the bench, the other Dragons stepped up to hold off Towson until her return. Nicole Hester hit a driving layup and Nacickaite dropped a set-back jumper from 18-feet. Hale did her best Marginean impression with a spinning drive to the right side of the lane, putting Drexel on top 44-43 at the 2:17 mark when Marginean reentered the game and pushed her team to victory.
The victory was Drexel's third over Towson this season and it avenged a quarterfinal loss to the Tigers in the 2008 CAA Tournament that ended the Dragons' season. The Dragons are now 22-8 on the season, matching the most wins ever for a Drexel team. Marginean's performance broke the CAA's single-season scoring record, which previously stood at 693 and was held by James Madison's Tamera Young. Marginean is now the first player in CAA history to score more than 700 points in a season, she has put in 708 so far this year.
With the win, Drexel advances in the CAA Tournament for the fourth time in Denise Dillon's six seasons at the helm of the program and enters the semifinals for the first time since 2004-05. The Dragons will face the winner of this afternoon's second quarterfinal match-up between #4 Old Dominion and #5 UNC Wilmington at noon tomorrow at the JMU Convocation Center.
