Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Northeastern
Marginean's 41 Points Carry Drexel Past Northeastern, 91-84, in Overtime
1/28/2010 9:23:22 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
Boston - Gabriela Marginean scored 21 of her season-high 41 points in the second half, including a spurt of 12 straight in the closing minutes, to bring Drexel from behind in a 91-84 overtime victory at Northeastern (7-12, 2-6). The Dragons (13-6, 7-1) trailed by 10 points with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. Drexel capped a rally with a Jasmina Rosseel three-pointer and Marginean layup to pull ahead with 21 seconds left. Kashaia Cannon hit a driving layup with 10.8 seconds remaining to tie it at 75 all. A jumper by Marisa Crane found its mark but she did not get the shot off in time to win it for Drexel in regulation.
Rosseel opened overtime with a three-pointer from the corner and Marginean scored seven more points in the overtime period to give the Dragons their second extra-stanza victory over Northeastern in as many years.
Marginean's 41 points, the second-highest single game total in Drexel history, was the most she's scored since dropping 47 on Northeastern in a five-overtime game in her freshman year that still stands as the longest women's basketball game in NCAA Div. I history. Drexel's total of 91 points is also the most scored by the Dragons since that contest, which ended in a 98-90 victory by the Dragons on Feb. 22, 2007.
Kamile Nacickaite exploded for a career-high 27 points, 15 of them in the first half. In addition to hitting the big threes in the final minute of regulation and the beginning of overtime, Rosseel finished with 11 points. Tyler Hale added eight points and seven rebounds. She came up with two clutch free throws with a minute and a half left in regulation and made two more in the last 25 seconds of overtime to secure the Drexel victory.
Northeastern was led by Brittany Wilson's 25-point, 11-rebound double-double. Deanna Kerkhof added 19 points off the bench, and was nearly unstoppable for the Dragons in the second half.
Drexel connected on 56.1 percent of its shots, including shooting 5-for-8 in overtime. Northeastern shot a blistering 56 percent in the second period after trailing through much of the first half and 34-33 at halftime. Drexel outrebounded Northeastern 34-29 overall and 20-9 in the first half.
After playing a tight contest in the first half, momentum shifted in favor of Northeastern at the 12:09 mark in the second half when Marisa Crane contracted her fourth foul and took a seat on the bench. Drexel was traling 48-45 at that point, but with its floor general on the bench, the Dragons saw Northeastern embark on a 16-4 run over the next four minutes.
The Huskies pushed their lead to 10 points on a three-point play by Kerkhof at the 10:18 mark. Marginean took over from that point, scoring Drexel's next 12 points to pull them back into the contest. Drexel trailed 61-53 by the time Crane returned to the contest with 8:02 on the clock.
Employing a full-court trap, lengthened by the wingspan of 6-foot-2 Jennifer Stjarnstrom, Drexel forced a pair of turnovers and clawed its way back into the game. A jumper by Nacickaite in the lane made it a four-point Northeastern lead, 67-63 with 3:35 left.
On the ensuing Northeastern inbounds play, Crane deftly read a pass over the top of the Dragons' trap and intercepted the cross-court heave to regain possession for Drexel. Moments later Marginean would complete a three-point play to make it a 68-66 game with 2:55 on the clock.
Two more Marginean free throws on the next trip down kept Drexel within two points and when Tyler Hale corralled a rebound off a missed three-pointer by Kim Carr and drew a foul, the Dragons had a chance to complete their comeback. Hale stepped to the line and knocked down both shots to knot the score at 70-70 with 1:27 remaining.
The Huskies pulled ahead with two Kendra Walton free throws but Rosseel's three from the baseline in front of the Drexel bench with 56 seconds left put the Dragons on top. Marginean's driving layup at the 22-second mark kept them in the lead. But Cannon's layup with nine seconds left sent the teams into overtime for the third time in the last four years.
Rosseel canned another three-pointer from the same spot 10 seconds into overtime as the Dragons opened up with a 7-1 run and never looked back en route to their fifth straight victory. Marginean scored seven points in overtime, including a three-point play at the one-minute mark that put the game out of reach for the Huskies.
The Dragons are 2-0 in overtime contests this season and have now won in nine of their last 10 games that have gone into extra periods. Drexel shot a season-best 20-for-21 (95.2 percent) from the free-throw line, led by Marginean's season-best 12-for-13 performance and highlighted by Tyler Hale's key tosses at the end of regulation.
Drexel returns to Philadelphia for a rematch with Delaware, the team against whom Drexel won its last overtime contest, in a 12:00 p.m. game on Sunday, Jan. 31. The contest will be televised live on TCN.
