Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Penn State
Rosseel Scores 1,000th Career Point, Leads Drexel Over Penn State 84-73
12/21/2010 9:53:08 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
State College, Pa. - Senior Jasmina Rosseel scored a season-high 20 points, including six three-pointers and the 1,000th point of her Drexel career while leading her team to an 84-73 win over Penn State (10-3) on the road. Kamile Nacickaite led all scorers with a career-high-tying 27 points on 12-for-13 shooting from the free-throw line and Hollie Mershon came off the bench to score 12 of her 14 points in the second half. Drexel's (7-2) win is its first over Penn State and snaps a four-game winning streak for the Lady Lions. Germantown Academy's Maggie Lucas came off the bench to lead the Lady Lions with 20 points.
Drexel held a slim 41-40 lead at halftime and opened the second half with a 13-0 run, taking a 54-40 lead that it would not relinquish for the duration of the game. The Dragons shot 25-for-50 from the floor and knocked down a season high 13 three-pointers while also making 50 percent from deep. Penn State edged Drexel on the boards 33-32.
Nacickaite rallied the Dragons from a 20-11 deficit early in the proceeding by scoring eight straight points during a 10-0 Drexel spurt that gave the Dragons a 21-20 lead. Drexel's counter punch was the first in a series of surges by each team in a period in which neither squad backed down offensively.
The Lions shot a sizzling 56.7 percent (17-30) in the half. The Dragons responded with one of their best offensive stanzas of the season, putting 15-of-30 shots from the floor and draining 8-of-16 three-pointers led by four from Rosseel.
Rosseel's 1,000th point came, appropriately, via three-pointer during the Dragons' run to open the second half, at the time it gave Drexel a commanding 52-40 lead. After falling into an offensive chill through the first five minutes of the second half, the Lions sprung to life in the final minutes, trimming Drexel's sizeable advantage to 10 points with 6:35 to play.
When Rosseel hit the deck with a turned ankle and exited the game with 6:12 on the clock, it appeared that Penn State was poised to make a run and get back into the game.
Hollie Mershon entered the game for Rosseel and quickly dispatched those ideas, draining a three-pointer off an in-bounds play, knocking down a pair of three-throws and grabbing two big defensive boards on the other end of the court. Mershon's play settled her team and allowed it to cultivate a lead as large as 18 points, 75-58, with 4:14 to play.
Drexel would finish the game by making 12-of-16 from the free-throw line over the last six minutes to keep Penn State at bay and hold on for its first win ever against the Big Ten power. Drexel held Penn State to 36.4 percent shooting in the second half. Drexel shot 21-for-29 from the free-throw line for the game.
A strong overall showing from the team proved essential in the victory. Tyler Hale chipped in 10 points, four assists and three steals. Marisa Crane distributed a season-high six assists and knocked down a pair of three-pointers to jump-start the Drexel offense in the opening minutes of play. Taylor Wootton added five points, four rebounds and again worked hard in the post on defense to lead the team with two steals. Ayana Lee came off the bench to grab two crucial offensive rebounds.
The Dragons (7-2) travel to San Diego next week to play in the San Diego State Surf N' Slam Tournament against nationally ranked Texas A&M on Dec. 28.
