Dragons Fall to No. 5 Texas A&M 74-45 at San Diego Surf n' Slam Tournament

Tuesday, December 28

San Diego, Calif.

10:00 EST

Drexel University

Texas A&M

Dragons Fall to No. 5 Texas A&M 74-45 at San Diego Surf n' Slam Tournament

12/29/2010 12:00:29 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

San Diego - In its first taste of competition against a top five opponent Drexel fell to No. 5 Texas A&M 74-45 at the San Diego State Surf N' Slam Tournament. The Aggies improve to 10-1 with the win while the Dragons fall to 7-3 and will face Texas- San Antonio in the consolation game on Dec. 30. Marisa Crane scored a season high eight points and had a team-leading five assists. Danielle Adams led the Aggies with 20 points.

Kamile Nacickaite led the Dragons with 11 points and Rosseel chipped in 10 in the loss. Drexel shot just 35.6 percent from the floor and committed a season-high 23 turnovers while playing to its lowest point total of the season against one of the nation's top defensive teams.

Texas A&M shot 47.7 percent from the field led by Adams' 9-for-14 night and Adaora Elonu chipped in with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double. The Aggies outrebounded the Dragons 38-26 and 14-6 on the offensive glass. They also pulled away 15 steals and converted Drexel's turnovers into 24 points.

Texas A&M broke the game open with a 11-0 run midway through the first half. The spurt gave the Aggies a 20-4 lead at the 12:28 mark. The Dragons suffered through a scoring drought of nearly five and a half while the team's top scorers, Nacickaite and Rosseel opened a chilly 2-for-10 combined.

Rosseel broke the ice with her first bucket of the game, a three from the corner, at the 9:58 mark off a well-placed pass from Marisa Crane in transition. The shot energized the Dragons and cued a 10-7 run that trimmed the Aggies' lead to 13 points, 27-14, by the 5:54 mark in the half.

The Aggies closed with a 17-8 run and led 42-22 at the break. Drexel fell victim to 11 turnovers in the first half that turned into 16 points for Texas A&M. The Aggies twice picked off passes on the perimeter for break-away layups by Adams and Sydney Colson. Adams led the Aggies with 16 points at halftime on 7-for-10 shooting.

As a team, Texas A&M shot 51 percent and outrebounded Drexel 19-11. The Dragons made 9-of-23 from the floor and just 3-for-11 from deep.

Drexel sprung to life in the second half with a 5-1 run to cut a 20-point halftime deficit to 16 points. But four straight buckets by Adaora Elonu quickly negated the Dragons' offensive spurt and returned momentum to Texas A&M. From that point the game would be no closer than 18 points as the Aggies' suffocating defense made the Dragons work hard for each basket.

The Dragons will face Texas - San Antonio (4-8) at 8:00 p.m. EST on Dec. 30 in the consolation game of the tournament. The Roadrunners fell 72-52 to the host San Diego State Aztecs in the first game of the night.