Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Georgia State
Marginean Pours in 34, But Dragons Fall Short, 60-58, at Georgia State
2/25/2010 8:10:12 PM | Women's Basketball
Philadelphia – Drexel lost a heartbreaker at Georgia State 60-58, falling for the second game in a row and dropping to 17-10 overall and 11-5 in CAA play. Gabriela Marginean scored a game-high 34 points en route to breaking a 16-year old all-division Philadelphia women's basketball scoring record held by Philadelphia University's Tammy Greene. The Dragons rallied from a 12-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining in the game, but an off-balance last-second jumper by Marginean that would have tied the game came up short as the Panthers (14-13, 5-11) prevailed on their home court.
Angelique Burtts led Georgia State with 20 points, 17 of them in the first half. Shay Rawls converted a key three-point play in the final seconds to give the Panthers the win and finished with 13 points and a team-leading nine rebounds. The Panthers outshot Drexel 48.9 percent to 43.5 from the floor.
Drexel availed itself of 20 Georgia State turnovers to score 31 points, many coming in the first half. But Drexel's offense stalled in the second half and Georgia State shot 61.1 percent in the period to steal the win. Marginean also pulled down a team-high four boards and shot a perfect 6-for-6 from long range to set her career high for threes. Kamile Nacickaite added 12 points and was the only other Dragon in double figure scoring. The rest of the team combined to score 12 points for the Dragons.
Georgia State opened the second half as the clear aggressor in the game. Using a 9-3 run, the Panthers mounted a six-point lead in the opening moments and maintained it through the midway point. Drexel went to Marginean for five straight points to draw to within two points, 42-40 with 9:24 to play.
The Panthers responded quickly with a 11-1 run keyed by a pair of break-away buckets off missed three-pointers that resulted in long rebounds. Crystal Johnson's put-back layup gave the Panthers their largest of the half, 53-41 with less than nine minutes to play.
From that point Marginean took over the game for Drexel, scoring 13 of the team's next 17 points to lead a furious Drexel rally. The culmination came when the forward tipped an post entry pass to Marisa Crane and sprinted down the court. Crane threaded a bounce pass to hit her in stride for a layup that tied the game at 55-55 with 1:46 to play. Marginean was fouled on the play but missed the free throw that would have given her team the lead.
She quickly redeemed herself on the next possession by knocking down to free tosses to tie the game at 57 all after a layup by Traci Haltiwanger with under a minute to play.
But 11 seconds on the clock, Shay Rawls spun her way into the lane on the post for a contested layup. Tyler Hale was whistled for a foul on the play and Rawls converted to give the Panthers a 60-57 lead.
After a pair of timeouts, the Dragons got the ball to Crane on an inbounds pass and the sophomore was fouled with 4.2 seconds on the clock. She made the first and intentionally missed the second, with the rebound caroming high off the rim. Marginean grabbed the lose ball and dribbled her way out of the lane before tossing up a shot that came up short as time expired on the Dragons' second straight loss.
After a sloppy first half of basketball the Dragons and Panthers entered the locker room in a dead heat tied 27. Georgia State turned the ball over on its first six possessions and allowed the Dragons to jump out to a 10-3 lead. But the same ball-handling miscues that plagued the Panthers in the first five minutes visited themselves on the Dragons in the closing 15. Drexel had 11 turnovers in the period to Georgia State's 10. Angelique Burtts led Georgia State with 17 points in the period.
Drexel is back in action on Feb. 28 as the team plays its final home game at the DAC this season. Seniors Gabriela Marginean, Jennifer Stjarnstrom and Alison Lupariello will be honored prior to the 1:00 tip on Senior Day. The contest will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.
